Kingdom Hearts: Chains By Days
by Tashasaurous
Summary: AU: Set after KH1. Both of Xehanort's halves are completely be destroyed by an evil who seeks to destroy all Nobodies and humanity, causing three friends to become fugitives, Sora and his companions to find a mysterious girl, King Mickey reuights with both Riku and a friend, but another to become a slave. (Discontinued-To one day be re-written-Sorry.)
1. Chapter 1: The Unknown Evil

_**Kingdom Hearts: Chains By Days.**_

 **Author's note: Surprise! Welcome to my new KH story! I know that I have other stories going, but I guess I'll have to give up on those ones since they're not getting enough support. It's not easy.**

 **This idea has been annoying me for ages, and so finally, I've decided to do it after finally coming up with a perfect/or at least a decent title of this story.**

 **It's a mixture of the games as well as the manga, but don't worry, it's AU thing.**

 **In the meantime, let's begin. I don't own Kingdom Hearts.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter one: The Unknown Evil.**_

 _Around Day 23..._

It felt like forever since Sora, Donald and Goofy have defeated the evil Ansem and restored the worlds back to normal. Kairi returned to Destiny Islands which were restored, but Sora didn't return home. His best friend Riku, and Donald and Goofy's friend and king, Mickey Mouse, were both trapped in the Realm of Darkness. They lost the Gummi Ship at the End of the World which was destroyed along with Ansem.

Donald and Goofy both discarded their travelling clothes and now wore their original clothing they used to wear just before Mickey became a Keyblade wielder a long time ago. They and Sora, who had his hands behind his head, walked down a dirt path of a lush green field that seemed to go on forever. At least the sky was blue and it was a nice day.

Except that they didn't have anything to do.

"Well now what do we do?" Donald asked, breaking the silence.

Sora shrugged, "We gotta go find Riku and King Mickey."

"But uh, where do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?" Goofy brought up the question from their minds, causing all of them to pause. Realising that they had no lead, they all hunched forward with a sigh.

Sora stood back up and sighed, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking." continuing as the others stood up as well, "It's not like we have anything else to do, right?"

"Ooh, I wish we had the gummi ship." Donald grumbled, crossing his arms, while Goofy noticed a butterfly and briefly said hello to the little flying insect before it flew away.

"Well, let's get going." Sora declared, leading the way, and Donald and Goofy both followed, hoping to find some clues in finding their friends and then return home. It may take forever if it will, but Sora was not going to give up until he found his lost best friend.

* * *

Later that night, the group made camp, and Donald and Goofy were both already asleep, but Sora couldn't sleep at all. He layed on his back, holding Kairi's good luck charm, holding it up to block the vision of the full moon. Kairi must already miss both him and Riku. It was still hard to believe that she was one of the chosens-one of the seven Princesses of Heart.

"Can't sleep, Sora?" a voice spoke next to him as Sora sat up. "Being awake too long and you'll catch a cold."

"You too, Jiminy." Sora smiled as he looked down at the small cricket who held his journal.

Jiminy replied, "I'm alright. I was just sorting through our adventures through my journal." and allowed Sora to take a look.

Looking through a magnifying glass, Sora read through the journal and exclaimed amazed, "Wow! You wrote a lot!" before handing the cricket the journal back.

"Aha, and I have to inform Queen Minnie of our adventures." Jiminy continued, "That's my duty as chonicler."

Sora thought about the things that happened, and wondered how different it would be if Kairi and Riku were with him. He thought that how he optained the Keyblade, how he had seen other worlds, met new people and new friends, fighting against the heartless, ect. "Wonder if I'll return home?" he thought outloud.

"Of course you will!" Jiminy stated, before pointing at the charm that rested in Sora's pocket, asking, "You promised your girlfriend, didn't you?"

Blushing in embarrassment, Sora protested, "She's not my girlfriend!" waving his hands 'no' and almost panicking. Okay, so he really liked Kairi more than a friend, but he couldn't let anyone else know that!

"Don't be bashful." Jiminy laughed, before yawning, and said sleeply, "Well, let's get some shut eye." as he layed down on the ground, taking off his hat and fell asleep.

Sora nodded, and as he layed down on the ground, he looked up at the sky once more, saying in his mind, ' _I'll come back with Riku, Kairi...I promise._ ' before finally falling asleep himself.

* * *

Very late at night, the campfire slowly died out, and the heroes continued to sleep, though Sora and Jiminy still remained the same as when they first went to sleep. Donald and Goofy both kept on moving all over the place in their sleep, snoring, and Goofy was sleep talking.

However, a voice suddenly startled Sora awake, "...S-Sora...!" causing him to snap away and sat up, looking around for the source of the voice. When Sora stood up, he blinked in shock and disbelief, as a young girl, about his age, was having difficulty in walking. She had light blonde hair, blue eyes, a white plain dress and sandles, and she looked like Kairi.

She is Namine, and she looked exhausted.

Rushing over, Sora caught the girl before she could fall. "Are you okay?" he asked immediately.

Namine looked up weakly, and what she muttered before she lost consciousness was, "Sora..." before falling limp, but still breathing.

"Wha?" Sora blinked, wondering how this girl knew his name. But then he decided to worry about that later, and gently steered her to camp, laying her down to the ground, before shaking the others awake, "Guys, wake up!"

"W-what?" Donald asked, tiredly, yawning and stretching his arms. Taking note that it's in the middle of the night, Donald grumbled, "Sora, it's the middle of the nigh-Wah!" he cuts himself off at the sight of Namine.

Once Goofy, who was tired himself, also saw the girl, he gasped, now fully awake, "Garwsh! What happened to her?"

"This is terrible!" Jiminy exclaimed as he too was now awake and saw what was going on.

"She needs help, fast!" Sora told them, and he and his companions quickly got to work on healing the injured mysterious girl, all unaware of what was in store for them and others.

* * *

 _Days earlier...the Seventh day..._

It's been seven days since Organization XIII had gained their final member. Seven days since Roxas, their final member's name, as been brought to the World that Never Was. He was the Nobody of Sora who did not know of his other half's existance, nor did anyone know how both could co-exist.

One thing's for certain, Axel, the eighth member of the Organization, also known as the Flurry of Dancing Flames, was assigned to watch over the new kid-not that Axel wanted to, but he had no choice. Besides, it seemed that Roxas, who couldn't even do anything other than walk and speak very few words, was completely blank.

Aka-Zombie like, according to Axel.

The red-haired nobody, grumbling at today's sudden meeting, entered the newbie's room, and to his irritation, three Dusks were looming over the sleeping spiky-blonde haired boy.

"Hey! What're ya doin!?" Axel demanded, causing the Dusks to instantly teleport away. He approached Roxas and sighed in exasperation, unplugging the peg that pluged Roxas's nose to allow the boy to breathe again, grumbling to himself, "Stupid Dusks! Guess they had to look at the new guy."

Without concern, Axel said to the kid, "Time to get up, Roxas."

Almost like a robot, Roxas sat up, eyes completely blank and staring into space, and you can practically see jellyfish float around his head. Axel shook his head, "Still no lights in there, huh? We're needed at the meeting today, so let's go."

Once Roxas was up, Axel lead the boy to the Throne Room of Nothing, before inquiring to the boy, "So, got my name memorized yet? It's Axel; A-X-E-L."

"Ax...ess." Roxas repeated incorrectly.

"El!" Axel corrected.

"...el..." Roxas muttered again.

Axel bit back a sigh of frustration. First Xigbar constantly dubs him Flamsilocks due to both his fire abilites and his hair, and now the newbie calling him Axess? What next-Fire-Place-head? Still, both remained silent as they continued on, passing a looming Vexen who was muttering about Roxas, but Axel and Roxas payed no attention, as if Vexen wasn't there at all.

"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!?" Vexen demanded angrily, causing the two younger Nobodies to stop.

"When you pass your superiors, you greet them! Don't you agree!? Don't you!?" Vexen ranted on.

Not really caring, Axel waved, greeting sarcastically, "Oh, hi. Haven't seen you in a while. I thought you got yourself killed." before continuing on with the blank Roxas.

Very annoyed, Vexen bit his finger in irritation and grunted, "Hmph! He thinks he's so hot just because he was chosen to take care of the Keybarer!" before storming to the Throne Room. Xigbar smirked, at first not sure what to say.

"Axel may look like a tough guy, but he's a real big o'l softie." Xigbar muttered, followed by Luxord, Xaldin and Marluxia(who was holding a flower).

"Certainly." Lurxord said.

"He's perfect for the job." Xaldin agreed.

Marluxia smiled, agreeing, "No objections."

"You guys just don't wanna do it yourselves." Axel grumbled, annoyed. Why did he had to be the one to babysit Roxas in the first place? He continued to lead Roxas, meeting up with the rest of the members save for their Superior, Xemnas, telling Demyx to shut up after the ninth member called him 'Mister Babysitter'. Axel was close to a breaking point. He was an assassin, not a child-care worker for crying out loud!

"Now, c'mere, Roxas. Sit down and don't fall!" Axel told the blonde as he helped Roxas to sit in the thirteenth throne. Once he was certain that Roxas would be alright, Axel teleported to his own throne and grunted, exhausted, "Ugh, man." and sat down...only for the most disgusting down to rip through the air.

 _ **PFFFFTT!**_

Nearly jumping out of his skin, and feeling that his seat was unusually rubbery and squishy, Axel pulled out a Wind-Breaker toy from his seat and yelled in irritation, "Who put this here!?"

At that point, Larxene, who was hiding behind Demyx's throne, came out and she bursted out laughing, "Kya hahahaha!"

"Aha! Aha! Ah, ha ha ha ha!" Demyx also bursted out laughing at the scene, unable to resist, despite that none of them in the room had any hearts. Demyx nearly fell off his throne as he and Larxene continued to laugh, and Axel, in frustration, just threw the useless toy to the ground, and tried to calm down. If this day just any worse, he was so going to burn something, or someone, and he would not care if he gets punished for turning things or nobodies into ash.

* * *

An hour later, the meeting pressed on. Everyone was all showing different expressions on the meeting...well, almost everyone, because as usual, Demyx instantly fell asleep from the boring meeting. Axel secretly wasn't paying attention, but he was admittedly interested.

"Friends." Xemnas began, "Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat."

On cue, a small figure, about Roxas's height, walked into the room and stood in the middle. It was a small figure in an Organization coat, the hood up and no one was able to see the face, as Xemnas continued, "Number XIV. Let us all welcome one of the Keyblade's chosen."

At this, Number XIV looked up at Roxas who didn't notice.

* * *

Once the meeting was over, most of the members met in the lounge, some of them discussing about Roxas and No.14 who both didn't take notice at all.

"So," Demyx began, "Since there's fourteen of us, we are keeping the name Organization XIII?"

"How should I know?" Xaldin replied.

Roxas glanced around, then gasped as he noticed No.14 staring at him, and, finding this a little scary, Roxas quickly rushed over and hid behind Axel who looked at him quizzly, asking, "What?" wondering why Roxas was hiding behind him like a scared child behind their parent. Did Axel look like a parent?

* * *

The next day, Axel was in the lounge with Roxas, and Saix, a blue haired man who was the seventh member of the Organization, yet he was second in command, which was weird, but not important. What Axel was hearing from the man who was the same age as him, he was surprised.

"A mission?" Axel asked, disbelieved.

"I can't have him around staring into space all the time." Saix said as he checked the notes on a clip board, being a strict member of the Organization.

Axel shrugged, saying out of concern, "Well, yeah, but...do you think he'll be okay?" before telling Roxas to quit staring at him.

"You will be going with him." Saix answered, causing Axel to exclaim, "What!?"

"Everyone else has already left. You are the only one left for the job." was Saix's answer...despite that Demyx was still around, the slacker of a member playing annoying music on his styer, which annoyed Axel who grumbled in sarcasm and a sweatdrop, "The only one, huh?"

In the end, Axel gave up and, sighed, "Fine. Come on, Roxas." before noticing that the blonde haired boy was staring at No.14 again as Axel summoned a corridor of darkness. "What's wrong? You worried about the new kid?" he asked.

He then looked at Saix and asked, "What was that name again?"

"...No.14, Xion." Saix answered.

"Right, I knew that." Axel smirked, before practically dragging Roxas with him, while Saix inquired in annoyance, "You didn't listen to a word Lord Xemnas said, did you?" to Axel who obviously didn't answer.

Roxas stared at the fourteenth member who was identified as Xion.

* * *

 _Around Day 20..._

Something powerful and evil controlled DiZ. That he knew, but he couldn't do a thing about it, as he has used the power of darkness as a transport and did not had the coats to protect his body for far too long. It was too late, as he was easily taken over, and...something inside him had the power to easily find a comatose Riku floating between Light and Darkness, and, keeping him asleep for a while longer, extended his hand.

A small orb of darkness then floated out of Riku's heart and body, and appeared, and...Ansem was trying to become one, but DiZ, under control of something far more dangerous, easily absorbed Ansem who felt this and screamed out in pain, before he was sucked into the body of DiZ instantly...and inside his heart, there was a sickening crunch before it faded into nothing.

A lone card floated away and into the Realm of Darkness...flying away to it's new owner that was unaware to the possessed DiZ...

* * *

 _Around Day 25..._

King Mickey didn't know how long it's been since he and Sora both used their Keyblades to close up the door to darkness. The king knew he needed a way out of the Realm of Darkness, but first he had to find Riku and only then he could return to the Realm of Light.

Mickey didn't want to admit it, but the Realm of Darkness sure was a scary place. He found himself gulping nervously, shaking scaredly and rubbing his arms as if he was cold. But no, he had to be brave. He made it far in coming here and was unexpectedly chosen to wield the Kingdom Key-D Keyblade while he still had his Star-Seeker Keyblade.

How could he be scared now? He was a Keyblade Master! Suddenly, a small light appeared and briefly blinded him, before Mickey looked again as his vision cleared, and a clue, strangely crown-shaped card appeared in front of him, floating.

"Say, what's this?" Mickey asked himself, gently picking up the card and held it. As he examined it, Mickey blinked in confusion and quirked an eye-brow. "What a funny lookin' card."

"Mickey? Is that you?" a female voice called from behind.

Startled, Mickey looked behind him, and he gasped in stunned shock. A familiar young blue haired woman, one he hasn't seen in almost eleven years. But it couldn't be...could it?

"Aqua?" Mickey asked, hesitatedly.

The two of them walked closer, and Mickey rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucenating. But no, this was really Aqua who has been trapped here for a very long time. Aqua was a Keyblade Master herself, but unlike Mickey, she didn't last long before things went horribly wrong.

"I can't believe you're here." Aqua said, bending down to Mickey's level. To her, he hasn't changed much, other than the clothes.

Unable to hold in his emotions, Mickey sniffled, before he hugged Aqua, and he knew for certain, this was real. He recongised her light, her heart, her body, her gentleness. She was one of his close friends. Aqua was startled at the embrace at first, but then embraced the young king back as he began to cry.

"I thought I'd never see you again...!" Mickey sobbed, as he tried to control himself, but his tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"I never thought I'd see you either, Mickey." Aqua replied, close into crying herself. Even though she wasn't around him for long, Mickey was her friend, one who helped her more than once. Once both Keyblade masters calmed down, they released each other and smiled, before they became slightly serious with small frowns.

"How did you get here?" Aqua asked.

Mickey rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, "Well, uh ,it's kinda a long story."

Aqua sighed, and replied, "That's too bad. I know I've been here a long time, wandering through the endless hours...unable to escape..."

"You haven't changed a bit since I last saw ya, Aqua." Mickey sighed in sadness. "You've been gone for almost eleven years."

The young woman gasped, then sighed in sad realisation. "Ten years...I've been trapped here for ten years...I'm not even sure if Ven is alright."

"Where is he?" Mickey asked, remembering the boy he met years earlier.

"I left him somewhere safe, somewhere he wanted to go." Aqua answered. She then realised something and asked, "I've been away too long. If you're here, then did something happen to the worlds?"

"Some of them fell into the darkness." Mickey sighed again, "But I found out that other than me, there was another Keyblade wielder who had the right power to save the worlds. I had Donald and Goofy join him to keep him safe so they could stop the Heartless."

Hearing the word Keyblade made Aqua ask, "Wait, was that Terra?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Should've known." Aqua muttered, disappointed.

Mickey nodded, "When I noticed that the stars started blinkin' out, I knew that trouble was close by. I set out to figure out how to solve the problem, and then I found myself here, and, well, I found this Realm's Keyblade." he held out his hand and summoned the Kingdom Key-D Keyblade to show Aqua who gasped, before he continued, "But at the same time, I wasn't consumed by the darkness. Then I knew that, along with the Realm of Light's Keyblade, this would close the door to darkness to prevent the worlds from falling into darkness any further." before desummoning it.

"Mickey, who is the other Keyblade wielder?" Aqua asked.

"His name is Sora." Mickey replied.

Hearing that name made Aqua's heart jump, and she had tears fall. She repeated the boy's name, which made Mickey confused. "Aqua...have you met Sora before?"

"When I first met him, he was just a little boy with his best friend." Aqua answered. "He reminded me so much of Ven." before asking, "What about Riku?"

Mickey flinched uncomfortly, before sighed, "Well...I'm tryin' to find him...He...was drawn into the Realm of Darkness, and the Princesses of Hearts were involved too." before he proceeded in telling Aqua everything that's happened, up until now. Aqua was horrified when she heard about Riku and was angered that Maleficent was involved, though she was relieved to hear that Sora, Donald and Goofy defeated her for good.

However, when Mickey started to explain about a young apprentince who split himself into two which Mickey recent discovered, Aqua asked, "Do you who it is?"

"Gosh...I can't remember." Mickey shrugged. "Now I'm lookin' for Riku and hopefully a way out of here." before remembering the card he was still unconsciously holding, and held it up, "I don't even know where this card came from-AH!"

Just then the card began to glow in bright light, and it covered the area and Mickey and Aqua who both shielded their eyes to prevent in getting blind. When the light faded, both Keyblade wielders opened their eyes, and gasped in surprise. They were no longer in the Realm of Darkness, but instead, they found themselves in a large white room, with a door leading to somewhere in front of them.

"Gosh...where are we?" Mickey asked, stunned.

"I don't know..." Aqua replied, "Though, this place seems familiar."

She looked at her friend again and at the card, saying, "I guess that card has something to do with it."

Mickey glanced at his card, amazed. "I think you're right." before glancing at the door in front of them, before shrugging, "Welp, I guess the only thing to do is to go forward and find a way outta here. At least it's kinda better than the Realm of Darkness."

"You're right." Aqua agreed. "That means we must be in the Realm of Light..." she digged into her pockets and pulled out her blue Wayfinder, holding it close to her heart. "This time...I'll find a way to wake Ven."

"And I'll help you." Mickey decided, "But we better find Riku too. I'm really worried about him."

Nodding in agreement, both Aqua and Mickey walked towards the door, hoping to find answers.

* * *

 _Around day 24..._

Riku floated all by himself, deep asleep, until he jerked himself awake, but still slightly dazed. "Where am I...?" he asked himself, finding himself...well, pretty much nowhere.

Suddenly, " _Stay asleep._ " a voice caused Riku to snap fully awake and he managed to righten himself up, demanding, "Who's there!?"

" _You should remain asleep. Here, between light and dark._ "

"Between...what?" Riku asked, not understanding. Suddenly, all of his memories return to him, and realised he was alone. "The King! Where's the king? Together we closed the door to darkness. After that-"

" _You came drifting here by yourself. You did not have the strength to overcome the darkness. Or...maybe you were close to it._ " the voice said.

Riku didn't like the voice one bit. "Hmph. As if I'm some kind of demon."

The voice seemed amused, before it said, " _Turn from the light. Shut your eyes. Here blanketed by the darkness, sleep is safety. Sleep is eternal. But..._ "

Suddenly, a small bright light appeared, and it formed a small card which floated around Riku who asked, "What's this?"

" _It is a door to the truth. Take it and your sleep ends, as you take the first step toward the truth. But know this: the truth will bring you pain. Will you still go? There is no return to the security of sleep._ " the voice continued.

Riku thought for a moment, but he was worried about Mickey. While the two haven't known each other for long, Mickey already became Riku's companion and friend, because Mickey was the voice that guided Riku to Sora after Ansem's defeat. Besides, staying here would be a waste of time, right? Making his mind up, Riku picked the card up, and he smirked.

"This seemed like a boring place to take a nap anyway." he replied.

" _That was very well said, Riku._ " the Voice said the final time.

Just then the card glowed brightly again, briefly blinding Riku. Once it faded, he found himself in a room-the Twelfth Basement of Castle Oblivion. He looks around and wonders of his new surroundings. He sees a door up ahead. He then looks at the card in his hand.

"A door to the truth, huh..." Riku said to himself.

Little did any of those in these different states now, was that the possessed DiZ was keeping an eye on every single one of them, and smirked evilly, his once orange eyes turning bright glowing red.

* * *

 **A/N: This is chapter one. The story will transfere from one point of view to the next of the characters, and go around days when I feel like it until the real new drama starts.**

 **As we wait for the second chapter, fellow readers, please review and I'll see you in the next chapter soon.**


	2. Chapter 2: New days

**Author's note: Sorry, I mean't to say in the last chapter that I would have to give up on some of my stories, not all of them. Sorry for the mistake.**

 **Anyway, this story will mostly follow the Sea-Salt trio before we reach the point of Sora and his companions and King Mickey, Aqua and Riku.**

 **Anyway, here's chapter two. I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter two: New days.**_

 _Back to day 8..._

"I never really understood what Xemnas was sayin', ya know?" Axel muttered as he and Roxas stepped out of the corridor of darkness, just outside of the underground tunnels in Twilight Town. He smirked and said to Roxas, "Don't go and tattle on me, okay?" chuckling.

Calming down, Axel then began, "Alright, your mission is to collect hearts."

"...Hearts?" Roxas asked.

Axel nodded, then told the blonde, "But first, you need your Keyblade."

As if automatically, Roxas held out his hand, and the Kingdom Key Keyblade, which he did not yet know that it also belonged to his other half-Sora, appeared magically in the boy's hand. Axel nodded in approval and told him about the importance of his mission, the Keyblade and that Roxas and Xion were both special since both of them were the only ones who could wield the Keyblade.

What caught Axel off-guard was that Roxas scratched the back of his head, looking to the ground, and the blonde's cheeks turned into a shade of pink. "Are you blushing?" asked the redhead. It seemed amusing, though. Finally, it seemed the boy was starting to react.

However, before they could continue, Axel sensed something and looked sharply to his left, which slightly confused Roxas. "Here they come!" the older Nobody exclaimed, getting ready, as several Heartless appeared, and, acting on instinct and not being ones for brains, unlike Nobodies, thought that Axel and Roxas had hearts, or that they didn't like Nobodies, and considered them rivals.

"I got this!" Axel smirked, summoning his Chakrams and fought against the Heartless, bashing out three already, but one caught him off-guard from behind and shoved him roughly to the ground, causing the redhead to grunt.

"A-Axel!" Roxas exclaimed, finally starting to become more aware as he witnessed Axel getting hurt.

Not allowing to show his weakness, Axel grunted, "I can do this blinded folded!" while shoving one Heartless towards Roxas who blinked in surprise, already getting into a defence. "Here it comes, Roxas! Whack it with the Keyblade!" he instructed.

Roxas, not knowing what else to do, instantly gave the Heartless a good down-whack with the Keyblade, destroying it instantly, and releasing a heart it swallowed from a human, and the boy was stunned as he watched it float away. But he was soon whacking and destroying more via Axel's instructions, and, with the last one, Roxas actually and determinatedly rushed over to the last one and quickly skillfully destroyed it.

Roxas sighed in relief, while Axel, feeling his back ache and grunting, "Ow..." the redhead said to his younger companion, "Good job." admittedly impressed on how Roxas learned how to fight so quickly.

"You're hurt." Roxas said, noticing Axel's position.

At first, Axel quirked an eyebrow, but then understood what the boy was getting at and smirked, "Nah, this is nothing." before explaining, "You understand? Using your Keyblade to fight the heartless and the collect those hearts you release is your mission. Think you handle it?"

"Yeah..." Roxas replied, continuing as his eyes at least was showing signs of actual life, not a zombie, "I can do this blind folded!" re-quoting Axel's earlier statement, and the redhead actually smiled, more impressed.

"Okay! Come with me! No successful mission is complete without a little icing on the cake." Axel declared, leading the confused Roxas into town.

* * *

After doing a little quick shopping, Axel lead Roxas to the top of the Clock Tower, and both of them sat on the edge, and Axel digged out two Sea Salt Ice Cream bars and handed one to the boy as a reward for his hard work today. Axel remembered trying it for the first time a week ago when Roxas first joined the Organization, and at first it was gross, but then he managed to finish it and, it gave him memories of his own childhood when he was a human. He forgot what it was like to eat Sea Salt Ice Cream.

"You remember what this ice cream is called?" Axel asked.

When Roxas didn't replay, the redhead sighed and slumped, while taking a bite of his own ice cream, "Sea-salt ice cream. I already told you before. Get it memorized." though Roxas did lick it.

"It's salty...but sweet." Roxas muttered.

Axel actually smiled, thinking to himself, ' _He said the same thing last time._ ' before muttering, "Hey, it's been, what, a week since you joined the Organization?"

"...I guess." Roxas replied, continuing to simply lick his ice cream.

"There you go, Roxas...that's what we call a _'Composed conversation.'_ " Axel replied sarcastically, before adding, "Anyway, starting today, you're one of us. You have a lot to catch up on since you were all Zombie-like. You better start getting that memorized."

Both fell into a somewhat comfortable silence, before Axel asked, "So, got my name memorized?"

"Axe **ss**." Roxas replied, just automatically, and find himself smilling a little, causing Axel to protest, "You're going that on purpose!" before he chuckled. At least Roxas is really starting to get out of the Zombie-mode. Maybe it has something do to with the Keyblade.

All in all, Axel realised that Roxas wasn't a bad kid.

* * *

The next few days were quite interesting for Roxas. When he paired up with Maluxia the 11th member on day 9, the pink-haired Nobody was muttering about the Keyblade's power until he noticed Roxas' confused look. The older nobody pretended to cough and cleared his throat, catching himself and saying, while flowers continuing to florush around him and holding up a wine glass, "I was just talking to myself! Here's to Organization XIII!"

On day 10, Roxas learned from Zexion the 6th member about Kingdom Hearts and the hearts they were collecting and how they lack hearts of their own. Zexion also gave Roxas some kind of fish he made.

Day 11, and he was working with Larxene who was quite annoyed and she grumbling about why she had to be the one to teach him this time, and how she muttered to herself that she couldn't stand kids.

On Day 12, Roxas learned about reconassince from Vexen the 4th member who was extremtely annoyed and seemed to have tantrum problems whenever Roxas accidently wrecked a Lamp-Post and how the scientest was rambling about missions being coverted operations and how Roxas learned about the portals of darkness also being good places to hide.

He also learned how some of the members of the Organization liked to slack off, like Demyx the 9th member for example.

Day 13, and Roxas learned about the calm of inner strength by Lexaeus how gave him a crown and heart chain puzzle while having one himself. While Lexaeus was telling Roxas the paitence and calm during troubled times, and how the puzzle can be difficult, Roxas solved it at first try in less than two minutes, while Lexaeus's puzzle was still stuck, making the larger Nobody's expression facefault.

When Roxas asked what a Heart was, he didn't get a straight answer.

A day later, the 14th day, Roxas was waiting in the lounge when Axel approached him. "Hey, Roxas! It's you and me again today!"

When the two returned to Twilight Town again, Axel was impressed on how good Roxas was getting, and how more conscious the boy seemed than days earlier. As the two completed their mission and began walking off, Axel asked the young teen, "So, how'd you like working with the other members?"

"I've learned that there are good apples, just like there are bad ones." Roxas thought.

Axel laughed at the boy's words, "You got that right!"

What he didn't expect next, as he went up ahead, Roxas paused and added, "Oh yeah, and I've learned that you're a really good apple, Axel." causing Axel to stop in shock.

"What?" Axel asked, turning his head to look at Roxas who continued, "You looked after me when I was a Zombie. I don't think the other members wanted to."

Now it was his turn to be very confused. Axel looked away and ahead of him again, scratching the side of his head, not really certain what to say to that comment. He wasn't even certain how to even react, as he didn't have a heart. No feelings for those who didn't have hearts period. This was the first time in his existance as a Nobody that anyone made a good compliment to Axel.

"I was just...ya know, following orders." Axel finally replied. Was he really the only one Roxas actually liked? Now that was very unexpected for the redhead.

Suddenly they heard voices and laughter, which made Roxas alarmed, and to Axel's slight different confusion, he was pushed into a small alley to avoid in being seen by three normal human teenagers. "What?"

"Shh!" Roxas shushed, "We have to hide." before he went to make sure they weren't seen, explaining, "Vexen told me that missions are coverted operations."

Hearing this made Axel become skeptical and quirked an eyebrow, "Right...I'd say Vexen's too coverted." he replied. He knew how Vexen is more into experiments than anything else and no one really knows why he's such a...well, it's hard to describe Vexen, though Axel didn't like him that much. That guy always gave him the creeps.

The three teens, Hayner, Olette and Pence who was lagging behind due to being slower than his friends, ran passed the alley the two Nobodies were at, and Hayner called out to his best friends, "Last one there has to buy the ice cream!"

"What!?" Olette exclaimed.

"No fair, Hayner!" Pence panted.

Axel watched the three kids and thought back of his own childhood, but couldn't dare himself to think too far into it...at least not until he got his own heart back. Shrugging, he said to Roxas, "C'mon, let's get some Ice Cream too."

"Why?" Roxas asked, confused as he looked up at the older Nobody.

Hearing this made Axel uncomfortable, and he knew he had to answer quick. " _"Why"_? Uh, well...'cause..." he muttered, feeling very uncomfortable, until finally, he replied, "Because we're friends."

"Friends?" Roxas repeated.

Axel nodded, explaining, "Friends eat ice cream together and laugh about the stupidest things." gesturing at the three teenagers at the ice cream stand, "Like those guys." in which Pence was crying since he lost the race, but laughed again with Hayner and Olette.

When Hayner and his two best friends left, Axel and Roxas went over to the stand as well and got two Sea Salt Ice Cream.

"Here ya' go." Said the kind old lady as she handed Axel the bag of two ice creams, "If you get one that says, "Winner", you might get a free bar."

"Heh, thanks." Axel smiled, paying for the treats before leading Roxas towards to the Clock Tower.

"Don't we have to get back to report?" Roxas asked.

Axel shrugged, "Friends always take a detour on the way home."

"And we are friends?" Roxas continued, referring to himself and Axel.

The older Nobody thought about it, and then answered, "Right."

* * *

The two were on the Clock Tower and ate ice cream together, watching the sun-set which felt somewhat peaceful and calming for the two of them.

"Hey, Roxas." Axel began, "After your next mission, let's meet up for ice cream again. No fun just going back and forth between the castle and work, right?"

Roxas nodded, "Yeah. Right." he looked to the distance again and thought, "We're friends, huh..."

* * *

 _8 days later...Day 22..._

Days went by for Roxas who started to 'enjoy' hanging out with Axel at the clock tower, eating ice cream, and continuing his mission to fight the Heartless and collect Hearts. However, today it was different.

"What?" Roxas asked, puzzled on what Axel just told him.

"I'm goin' away for while." Axel repeated, "Starting tomorrow, at Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?"

"It's the Organization's second home. I guess you could say it's a business trip."

"Oh..." Roxas muttered.

Axel nodded, looking a little sour, "Yeah...I'm gonna miss this ice cream thing we do." only to look at Roxas's own sour look, and asked, "W-what's with the face?"

Smiling, Axel continued, "I'll be back before you know it, so don't worry." quickly adding, "Though that'd be a neat trick without a heart, heh." before he stands up, ready to leave. "Well, I gotta head back, and get ready."

He opened up a corridor to leave, before pausing and turned to Roxas, saying, "The ice cream's on me. Later." then walked into the corridor and left, leaving Roxas alone for a while.

* * *

When Axel reappeared into one of the corridors of the Castle, having finished his ice cream, ahead of him, Saix appeared. Secretly, both men were once best friends when they were both human. They both lost their hearts on the same day almost ten years ago. Neither remembered how they lost their hearts or why, but both joined the Organization at the same time...not that neither of them fully trusted their superior.

"Axel." Saix began, "I have a message from Lord Xemnas. Among the members assigned to Castle Oblivion, there are traitors." pausing at Axel's side, facing the opposite direction. He pat's Axel's shoulder, finishing, "Find them, and eliminate them." before walking away.

Axel paused, looking back slightly, muttering, "Wow. Straight from Lord Xemnas' lips, huh?" before looking at the ice cream stick, and replied, "Well, roger that." knowing what this meant.

It was time for both recon and elimination mission, and how Axel disliked being the one to do all of the icky jobs, but had no choice. However, he had a feeling that it'll be just as easy as Saix told him. Axel had a feeling that Marluxia and Larxene were the number one targets ever since both of them joined before Roxas, but it also doesn't hurt to be careful, especially since Lexaeus, Vexen and Zexion were also involved.

* * *

 _Back to Day 23..._

Sora, Donald and Goofy did everything they could in healing the girl who stumbled to their campsite. Donald provided better clothes for Namine using his magic as best as he could. She was now wearing a white tank top with a silver jacket, silver shorts with a white over skirt, and long flat-heeled white boots to make her more comfortable.

"Who is she?" Donald asked.

Sora shrugged, "No idea. She came like that and...she even knew my name."

"But how can that be?" Jiminy asked, confused. "Sora, do you know her?"

"No." Sora shook his head, "But for some reason...she kinda looks like Kairi."

"I wonder why." Goofy thought, removing his hat briefly to scratch his head, before putting it back on.

"This is very strange. I wonder who she is and how she-" Jiminy was cut off when they noticed the girl stirring, showing them that she was finally waking up.

Namine slowly sat up, amazed that not only she was back to health, but also that she was wearing new clothes she didn't even notice until now. How long was she out for? She then noticed four faces looking at her, concerned. She looked down, with a sad expression she wasn't supposed to feel at all.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked, unaware of what was going on.

"...I think so." Namine muttered. "You're...you're Sora..."

"Uh, yeah, but, how'd you know my name?" Sora asked, way more confused than he can let on.

Namine shifted uncomfortably, before muttering, "Because...I can see into your memories, and the memories of those who are connected to you...it's a very long story."

"You can see into Sora's memories?" Jiminy asked, in disbelief, "Does that mean you can see into our memories too?"

The girl nodded, and, Goofy, being, well, goofy, started to recite the alphabet, "A...B...C...D...E...F..." which was freaking out Sora and Donald.

"Goofy...what are you doing?" Sora asked, eyes widening, spooked out as Goofy continued, "...L, M, N, O, P..."

Donald blinked scaredly, "Goofy...you're scaring me."

To his and Sora's relief, Goofy sighed in relief and smiled, "I haven't forgotten the Alphabet! Ah-yhuck!"

Seeing this somehow made Namine giggle, and she admitted, "He's funny." referring to Goofy.

"He's just goofy." Donald stated, before asking, "So, how is it that you can see into Sora's memories?"

Namine became sad again, and, deciding it was better to tell the truth, began, "...I don't know how or why, but..." she looked at Sora and what she said next confused and shocked him, "...Sora...my name is Namine...I'm Kairi's Nobody."

Sora and his friends stared at Namine in silence, before he muttered, "Kairi's...Nobody? What's a Nobody?"

"A Nobody is...a second half of a person who turned into a heartless..." Namine said, "Nobodies are those who don't have any hearts at all...most Nobodies take form of monsters, but...those who have very powerful hearts are able to maintain human forms...at least, that's what I was told...we don't really exist...and we were meant to disappear into the darkness."

"Not that I get what you're saying, but Kairi never turned into a Heartless." Sora pointed out.

Namine nodded in agreement, "And she wasn't meant to have a Nobody, because she has no darkness inside her. But for some reason, after you saved Kairi...I was born...and, your Nobody was born too."

Sora's eyes widened, as he recalled back at Hollow Bastion how he sacrificed himself to free Kairi's heart from his heart, and turned into a Heartless before she restored him back to his human form...at least, half of his human form. "So...I'm still a Heartless, but in a human form?" he asked, shocked. Donald, Goofy and Jiminy all glanced at each other, horrified.

"No...you're the only one who turned back to normal, even if your nobody still exists. It's very rare for a Nobody to co-exist with their original. I don't know the full details." Namine replied. "But, I was also born because...maybe it was you. That's why I have the ability to see into your memories, and the memories of those connected to your heart."

"What about my Nobody?" Sora asked.

"I don't know where he is...but I can tell that he doesn't remember being you at all. As long as you still remember, I don't think he'll ever share your memories." Namine answered.

Sora was dumbfounded, and he couldn't help but ask, "So...he's like a Zombie?" before asking another question, "What about you? Where'd you come from?"

"I came from a place called Castle Oblivion...it's not too far from here." Namine replied. "I was found there, and trapped...until a strange man appeared, and tried to destroy me."

 _FLASH-BACK-Around Day 22..._

 _Namine was in her room of Castle Oblivion, trapped here by Organization XIII who wish to use her for their goals. They already used her to use her knowlage of Sora's memories to create a replica. For what, she didn't know, nor did she want to know. All she knew was, that two of it's members want to use her to take over the Organization, but then...something happened._

 _She was on her own, drawing with crayons on her art-book, when suddenly, a portal of darkness appeared out of nowhere, and a man in red, DiZ, appeared, eyes glowing bright red. Namine felt scared._

 _"Why were you born?" DiZ asked, almost angrily._

 _Namine blinked, shaking her head, "I...I don't know...Who are you?"_

 _"You have no right to ask! Nor you have the right to speak or even to be!" DiZ snapped in sheer anger, frightening the poor girl even further._

 _"I will make sure that no-one is reborn as a Nobody-that includes you, wrenched witch!" DiZ continued, holding up a hand and started to create a ball of darkness that will be so fatal that it could kill her._

 _Namine lets out a gasp before accidently falling off the chair and onto the floor. She began to crawl away in sheer fright that she could already sense and continued until her back touched the wall. So scared she shut her eyes tight and did her best to brace for her end._

 _Suddenly, a cloud of dust appeared out of nowhere and an armored figure, with a Keyblade, blocked the attack as best as it could, before the attack blasted at both the armor and Namine who screamed. The blast caused the room to become damaged, and Namine was hurt. The figure, who was actually Terra's Lingering Will, picked up the girl, before looking at DiZ again who prepared to figure another attack._

 _"I don't know what's going on," Terra began, as if he was recovered. "But I will not, let you hurt this girl!" before aiming his Keyblade behind him, opening a portal and threw Namine into it, and it closed before she could get out of the portal, leaving the Lingering Will to handle DiZ._

 _When Namine reached the end of the portal, she found herself on a grass field, and looked around, realising she was out of Castle Oblivion. However, terrified that the Organization could find her here, Namine, while injured, ran as fast as she could, through out the day until night time came, and, finally, she was close into collasping, until she found..._

 _"S-Sora..."_

END OF FLASH-BACK.

"...And that's what happened." Namine finished her story.

"Gawrsh, that's terrible." Goofy said, feeling sorry for Namine. Even Donald wasn't immune to the upset girl, whether or not she was a Nobody.

"I'm sorry...I...I should go, before any of you get hurt." Namine muttered.

Sora shook his head, saying, "It's not your fault, Namine. I can understand that you were alone, right?"

"I've been alone for a long time...I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Namine continued.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Sora pointed out. "Namine...I don't care if you're a Nobody or not...You need help." which surprised everyone.

Namine looked at her original self's best friend, and asked, "You really want to help me?"

"Yeah." Sora nodded, his mind already made up. "We'll just have to avoid Castle Oblivion and you can come with us. You can live with me, Kairi and Riku on the islands when we find Riku and the King."

When no one else replied, Sora continued, "Plus, better with us than those...whatever those guys in the black coats you mentioned, right? And way better than being stuck in Castle Oblivion."

"Yeah, and we can all be friends." Goofy added, taking a liking to the idea.

Donald, while a bit skeptical, even he could sense that Namine was like every other girl, whether she did have abilities or not. Plus, he could tell that Namine was telling the truth. "Yeah." he finally agreed.

"I agree." Jiminy added.

Feeling a little better, Namine smiled softly, looking at all of her new friends, "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy...thank you." she said.

Jiminy then yawned, then suggested to the group, "Well, let's get some shut-eye." and the others didn't argue there. Once again restarting the campfire, the group, now gaining a new companion, all went to sleep to be ready to travel tomorrow.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Castle Oblivion...

When the six assigned Organization members arrived in the Castle that was impossible to count how many rooms there actually were, they did not expect to see the mess that occurred before they got there. On top of everything else, the resident that was supposed to be here was missing, in place of an empty broken armor that was left behind.

"NAMINE'S WHAAAT!?" Vexen exclaimed so loudly that the rest of them had to cover their ears with their hands.

"Calm down, Vexen." Lexaeus told no.4.

Axel approached the broken armor and bend onto one knee to get a closer look, eyes narrowing in confusion and supection. "Hmm...Somebody must've got here before we did, and whoever that guy was, he didn't leave without injuries. Something must've happened." he said.

"Who would be stupid enough to come here and know about this in the first place?" Larxene grumbled in irritation.

"If I knew, I'd told you." Axel pointed out as he stood up again. "Problem is, I don't even recongise this rusty armor." before he came up with an idea and turne to Zexion, and asked, "Hey, you're good in detecting in people's darkness. Think you can sense who was here before us-other than Namine?" to which the other members turned to the youngest of the six who nodded, and did what he did.

After a few moments, Zexion muttered, "Well, I picked up two scents that was left over here...one of them, having been possessed by a powerful resident of the Realm of Darkness."

"A resident of the Realm of Darkness?" Larxene asked, skeptical. "Not a heartless?"

"It's more powerful than a heartless." Zexion gestured, "But it's difficult to make out, as it possess someone who has darkness, so it's far to clouded. The other one, it's the one that left the armor behind."

"And who is it?" Lexaeus questioned.

Zexion shook his head, "I do not know for sure, but, this darkness is similiar to that of the superior."

"And yet, not the same, was it?" Vexen inquired, and at Zexion's nod, the blonde haired man smirked cruely, "This truly piques my curiosity."

At this made Axel roll his eyes, while Larxene sighed and said, "Hmph. Well, here we go again. It's just an excuse so you can carry out your little experiments." to which Axel snorted, while Marluxia shook his head.

Vexen replied, "I'm a scientist. Experiments are what I do."

"Whatever. You can do what you want." Axel shrugged. "My main concern is who were those guys, why they came here and what happened to Namine." ' _And finding out how many traitors there are_.' he added to himself in his mind, but he didn't acknowlage it to the others, in fear of being found out that he was sent to handle the traitors, under Xemnas' orders.

Zexion nodded in agreement, "Axel's right. This is very troubling. So, what do to?"

Everyone was silent, until Lexaeus muttered, "We wait-see what develops."

"What else can we do?" Axel sighed in agreement. "We're split into two groups of three, right? I'm with Larxene and Mister Flower Petals." referring to Marluxia who glared at him, and then glared at Larxene and Vexen who both smirked at his new nick-name.

"And Vexen, Lexaeus and I are in the lower floors of the castle." Zexion muttered, already teleporting away, along with his two companions, leaving Axel, Larxene and Marluxia.

What they didn't know yet was that Castle Oblivion was going to have more unexpected visitors, and not who two traitors were expecting or hoping for.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this chapter seems a bit boring, but I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter. In the meantime, fellow readers, please continue your reviews and I'll see you again next time.**


	3. Chapter 3: Dangers of Castle Oblivion

**Author's note: This story is decicated to fellow author, Cloudhead who is famous for his own series, "The Reluctant Father", which I forgot to mention, sorry.**

 **I do not own the rights of Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter three: Dangers of Castle Oblivion.**_

 _Back with Roxas..._

Roxas was still a little sad that he wouldn't be seeing Axel until the later got back. The youngest member had no idea what was going on in Castle Oblivion. He noticed on the paper on the window of the members that left for the second castle-Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia, Larxene.

When the boy arrived in the lounge, he found Luxord the 10th member, who seemed to love card games, and had asked, "No.13. Do you play poker?"

While Roxas shook his head, 'No', never having heard of the game before, Xigbar seemed to know what the 'pirate' member of the Organization was trying to do, and the one-eye-patched member said, "As if. You're just looking for a sucker."

Never the less, the three of them played the game none the less, and, to Luxord's shock, Roxas was actually good at it so far.

Too bad the peace and quiet didn't even last long for 2.5 seconds, as all of the sudden, the awful sound that was unfortunately Demyx who was playing his Syter or whatever it was, and Roxas was surprised on how noisy it was.

"I wish they'd send him to Castle Oblivion instead." Xigbar grunted in irritation, saying in his head, ' _Keep it down!_ '

Fortunately, his mental wish was granted, as Saix, who couldn't stand the noise either, harshly and unexpectedly whacked Demyx(comically) on the head, ending the noise all together with his clipboard, and you can see a cross bandage on Demyx's head.

"Listen, everyone." Saix began formally to the remaining members, "With half of our numbers unavailable, I need you all to pick up the slack." much to Xigbar's and Luxord's annoyances, though Roxas didn't have a problem with that.

"Aye aye, sir." Xigbar grumbled sarcastically.

"Roxas," Saix began to the young blonde, "You will execute your mission with Xion today." much to Roxas's surprise, remembering Xion, who was a strange female who's face was covered.

Demyx was crying a bit, and asked to Saix, "What was that for?" but he was ignored and sent on his own mission.

* * *

It was Xion's first mission, though she hardly spoke of anything, and what surprised Roxas was that she didn't use the Keyblade like he did, despite that they both could wield Keyblades. None the less, when they filled their quota, Xion left without a word, and Roxas did what he usually did, though he felt lonely without Axel and hoped he would be back soon.

The next day, Roxas and Xion paired up again, and the same happened as yesterday, though this time, it was a little different.

"I think that's enough." Roxas told Xion, dismissing his weapon, "Er...uh...I guess I'll see you later." turning away to head over to the clock tower. However, Xion didn't leave this time, and, then came an awkward situation.

"R-Roxas..." Xion began, causing Roxas to turn around as she said his name, "Roxas...your name...It's...Roxas, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. That's right." Roxas replied, before Xion left. "So, you can talk then."

* * *

Back to Day 24...

Riku stepped through the doors, only to find himself in a familiar world-too familiar for his liking. He suddenly knew where he was. "This is Hollow Bastion." Riku said to himself.

And, well, we all know what happens here, so I'll just skip this part.

* * *

The good thing about Castle Oblivion for the six members of the Organization was that at least they had bed rooms where they could get some decent sleep. Though Axel was on assignment to dispose of the traitors of the Organization, he at least deserved some decent sleep.

However, this time, his sleep today was disturbing. Axel seemed to be struggling in his sleep, tossing and turning.

Finally, he jolted up into a sitting position, jerking awake and gasped, before panting, cold sweat on his forehead. Axel looked around, before realising where he was, and sighed for the first time in almost ten years. He never really suffered nightmares since becoming a Nobody, so why now?

"...Namine...where did you go?" Axel whispered to himself. He just had a dream that he nearly killed her while attempting to destroy Marluxia. Not that he cared or anything, but still...even Namine didn't deserve such cold death. Ugh, what was wrong with him?

Axel glanced up at the ceiling, and sighed. Maybe this Castle was starting to influence on him. Plus, it wasn't named Castle Oblivion for nothing. "Maybe this place really is dangerous." he muttered to himself. He layed back down and placed his hands behind his head. For one thing, he wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight.

* * *

After going through what he found out was his memory of Hollow Bastion, Riku walked out of the doors and into the 11th Basement level. Once again, he heard the voice that was starting to annoy him.

" _Why do you shun the darkness?_ "

Riku frowned, pausing as he replied, "C'mon, I know you heard me. Every word I've said to Maleficent."

" _Darkness is your weapon. It is time you learned you must accept it._ " the voice continued.

"What do you mean?" Riku demanded.

The voice answered, " _Stop resisting. Accept the darkness. You have no choice..._ " it trailed off before in front of him, a black and purple darkness appeared before it disappeared, revealling a figure-DiZ. "If you are to spend your days as a slave!" revealing to be the voice.

"So you're the one who wants to use me now." Riku muttered, as if he was expecting an unwanted guest.

"Hmm? You don't seem surprised." DiZ thought.

"All you have been talking about is the darkness. I can only assume you wanna do what Ansem did with me, and play the new puppet master." Riku stated his theory, which was also known as obvious.

DiZ smirked, his red eyes glowing, "Clever boy. However, it seems to me that you are intent on resisting the darkness. All right. Then see it for yourself." pulling out another card, "This is a card crafted from your memory. Advance through the world it

creates and soon, you will understand... Chasing after light is not the way. It will not give you distance from the darkness. There is no running from the darkness."

Riku glared at the new enemy, answering with determination, "Don't worry, I'm not running. Give it. I'll enter the world and in the end, if I haven't given in to the darkness... Then I win."

In an instant, DiZ threw the card at Riku who caught it before it could zip passed him. "I have one more gift for you." DiZ continued, before he clenches his hand, and a dark sphere forms inside Riku who writhes in pain.

"What'd you do?!" Riku demanded in anger.

"I simply tempered the darkness that yet remains in your heart." DiZ answered.

Riku's eyes narrowed, "You still think that I'd rely on darkness?"

DiZ didn't answer, instead, he said, "I'll be waiting, Riku...for you to sense it and yield to the darkness in your heart!" before he disappeared into the corridor of darkness.

Riku glared at the spot, before continuing on, hoping that he would defeat the darkness in his heart once and for all.

* * *

Outside of Castle Oblivion, earlier in the new day, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy and their new companion, Namine, continued down the road before stopping at the fork in the road, wondering where to go. For one thing, Namine was backing away from the middle road.

Which the others caught on and Sora asked, "The middle road leads to Castle Oblivion?"

Namine could only nod.

"Okay, so the middle road is not an option." Sora said, before asking as he looked at the left road and the right road, asking, "So...which path should we chose?"

"I say that way!" Donald said, pointing at the right road.

Goofy blinked, saying, "I thought we'd go that way." pointing at the opposite direction.

Sora, Jiminy and Namine only glanced at each other, before they all looked at the direction Goofy suggested, and finally, Sora said, "Well, let's try that way anyway. I have a feeling that it'll lead us somewhere." and Jiminy and Namine both nodded in agreement.

"Aw phooey." Donald grumbled, but followed the others none the less, hoping that it was the right direction.

* * *

 _Back to Day 25..._

The next morning in the Organization Castle, Roxas appeared in the lounge and Demyx was the only one he found, and the Water-skilled Nobody noticed something odd about Roxas, and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Roxas asked, confused. Demyx pointed out the look, "That goofy grin on your face." before continuing to play his favorite instument( **Sorry about the spelling mistake** ), while Roxas blushed, asking, "I was grinning?" but not getting an answer.

"Good morning, Roxas." a familiar voice said behind Roxas who turned around, and, to his great surprise, as he knew the voice belonged to Xion, but the person standing there was far different. Xion always had her hood up...or did she always had short black hair and blue eyes?

"Good luck to both of us today." The girl greeted, looking like a normal fourteen year old girl.

"Xion...?" Roxas muttered, surprised.

Demyx, who also noticed, was taken aback, as he muttered in disbelief, "Whoa...she speaks."

What also amazed Roxas was that Xion was acting like a completely different person now, and not only that...she seemed familiar.

* * *

 _Back with Mickey and Aqua..._

When the two of them entered the door as Mickey noticed the card glowing, he and Aqua were quite stunned on what they were seeing. They found themselves in a forest, and to Aqua, it seemed familiar. It was in the middle of the night, the moon was out and the stars were shining.

For Mickey, he felt a strong case of deja vu, as he rubbed his eyes before blinking to make sure he was awake. A feeling of dread entered his heart. "Oh no...please don't tell me I'm in another Castle of illusions." he groaned.

"Castle of illusions?" Aqua asked, curious.

"Well," Mickey began, "It happened a long time ago, before I even knew that I had magic powers or about the Keyblade. A witch kidnapped my gal' Minnie and took her to this Castle of illusions. I went after them to save Minnie, and, well, there were several doors that took me inside lots of illusions of strange places, including a forest, because I had to find this raindow gems to get to the Witch's tower."

Aqua's eyes widened as she heard this, "Why would the Witch do that to Minnie?" as she recalled meeting the Queen in Disney Town, which she instantly somehow knew that Minnie was the wife of King Mickey.

"It's a long story, but I really didn't like the Castle of illusions." Mickey shrugged. "Gosh, it was very scary, especially a few times when I either turned very small or everything was giant."

"I can see your point." Aqua admitted. She then suggested, "Well, lets go find out where we are and figure things out from there."

" _There is no need._ " a new, smooth like voice spoke from nowhere, alarming both Mickey and Aqua who both became vigilant and looked around for the source. Sensing movement from behind them, they both quickly turned around, only to find no one. They turned around again to the direction they were about to go, and this time, found a figure in a black coat, his hood up and covering his face. The two Keyblade Masters got into defense stances.

Little did they know that it was Marluxia.

Aqua could sense powerful darkness from the man confront her and Mickey, but she also found that something was missing inside him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"That isn't important right now." Marluxia began, "What you're seeing now is an illusion, crafted from your memories." shocking both Mickey and Aqua.

"My...memories?" Aqua muttered, before gasping as she now knew where she was and why it looked the same. "We're in our memories!?" she asked.

"That's correct." Marluxia confirmed, "In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That's the way of Castle Oblivion."

Mickey's eyes furrowed, "Castle Oblivion?"

"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past. And you will meet people you miss." Marluxia continued.

Aqua seemed to figured it out, because she said, "You mean in my memories?"

"You're a smart young woman." Marluxia chuckled, "It seems you know part of the meaning to find is to lose, and to lose is to find." before he holds out a hand and a blast of darkness and rose petals blast in a gust of wind at Mickey and Aqua who try to block it, before the black-coated man becomes transparent and flies through Aqua who gasped before stumbling.

"Aqua!" Mickey exclaimed, before turning to Marluxia and glared at him, but the enemy disappeared and reappeared back in front of them.

"What'd you do!?" Aqua demanded, summoning her Keyblade-Master Eraqus's Keyblade she kept for ten years. Mickey also summoned his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key-D. It seemed to amuse Marluxia.

"I merely sampled your memories. And from them, I made this." Marluxia muttered, holding out what seemed to be another card with a picture on it. "To reunite with those you hold dear-" he tosses the card to Aqua who caught it.

Aqua looked at the card, and muttered, "What are these for?"

"To continue your journey through the new worlds." Marluxia explained, "Proceed, warrior of the Keyblade." to which Aqua and Mickey both gasped, as he continued, "Go through your journey for to find is to lose and to lose is to find." before he disappeared.

"He said that about three times." Mickey sighed, before questing, "And how did he know about the Keyblade?"

Aqua had a bad gut feeling, as she muttered, "I guess Xehanort must've told more with dark hearts about the Keyblade than I thought." recalling how Maleficent knew about the Keyblade ten years ago.

This worried Mickey a lot, then he suggested, "Welp, I guess we'd better be extra careful. I have a bad feeling about this."

Agreeing on this, the two of them decide to investigate this memory of one of the worlds Aqua has been ten years earlier.

* * *

Little did they know, was that they were being spied on by three of the Organization members who found a security room with magical cameras of Castle Oblivion. Marluxia returned to the room as Axel and a somewhat jealous Larxene kept on eye on Aqua and King Mickey.

"I thought there weren't any other Keyblade wielders at the moment." Axel muttered. "Just how many of them are there?" as his strange dream was long forgotten and he actually managed to get some more sleep.

"Are you really that dense?" Larxene sighed, "Of course there are others! What I'm concerned about is, why is that girl a Keyblade wielder?" glaring at the blue-haired woman on the screen.

Seeing the blonde-haired woman's reaction was priceless for Axel and he couldn't help but tease, "Jealous much?" causing Larxene to glare at him in irritation.

"That woman is already more trouble than Sora." Marluxia spoke up, pulling off his hood, and, to boh Axel's and Larxene's annoyances, more pink roses grew around the graceful assassin. "However, she will soon discover the meaning to find is to lose and to lose is to find..." before he flinched, and then groaned in realisation, "Oh no, I said it again."

"Maybe it's becoming your own catch-phrase." Axel joked as he crossed his arms.

"Please say you didn't say that." Larxene groaned.

Axel shrugged, his own gut feeling about these two with him growing stronger. He had a feeling that he was right about them. Still, he couldn't let his guard down. He would have to continue to pretend to act like nothing supicious was happening around his co-workers.

"If Namine had not gone missing, Sora would've been lead here to Castle Oblivion." Marluxia muttered softly, but Axel caught on, though the latter pretended it didn't hear.

"Hey, it looks like those two are about done with their first memory." Larxene spoke up, looking at the screen again. Axel and Marluxia also looked and noticed that Aqua and Mickey, having relived a slightly different version of what Aqua went through in the Castle of Dreams ten years ago, were leaving the memory behind to return to the real world.

"Perhaps I should go and greet them again." Marluxia smirked, placing his hood back over his head and then teleported away.

Axel shook his head, muttering, "He's better off working in a Greenhouse."

"Tell me about it." Larxene agreed, "Those petals are so annoying."

Both of them turned back to see that Marluxia has already greeted with Aqua and Mickey, before Axel decided, "I'm gonna go and give the guy a break." teleporting away before Larxene could say anything else.

* * *

Aqua and Mickey both made it through their first memory and were in another hallway that was pretty much the same as the previous room when they first arrived in Castle Oblivion. Both of them figured that, since the people they met didn't recongise them and that they were in the castle when they first got here, that what they saw was an illusion.

Unfortunately, Marluxia was waiting for them. "Well, miss Keyblade bearer, did you enjoy seeing your memories?" he asked.

"What is it that you want?" Aqua demanded, not answering.

"What do you have to give?"

Marluxia started to approach them, making Aqua and Mickey both summon their Keyblades again, just as Axel appeared behind Marluxia who paused, sensing the redhead's appearence.

The red-haired Nobody waved a hand at Aqua and Mickey, greeting with a smirk, "Hello!" only making Aqua's glare go harder. She could alreadly tell that the young redhaired man was like Marluxia in darkness.

"What do you want?" Marluxia asked, not turning around.

"I got bored, with you hogging another hero." Axel replied.

While the graceful assassin wasn't amused, he decided to give Axel a chance for once, and threw him another card, which the skilled Flurry of Dancing Flames caught, his grin widening. He was looking forward to this.

"Then perhaps you would like to test this young woman." Marluxia muttered.

"Perhaps I would." Axel replied as his comrade teleports away, giving him a farewell, "See ya.". He then turned his attention to Aqua, saying, "My show now, miss Keybearer."

"Who are you?" Aqua demanded.

Axel blinked, "Who am I? Oh my name's Axel." he replied, before quoting his catch-phrase while tapping the side of his head, "Got it memorized?"

"I never forget names." Aqua replied, keeping her guard up.

"Good. That's what I want to hear." Axel chuckled, "So, now that we're getting to know each other..." held stretched out his arms on both sides and summoned his Chakrams, making Aqua and Mickey get into a deep defence, while Axel concluded, "Don't you go off and die on me now!"

He then drew his arms back and threw his weapons with such strength straight towards the two Keyblade wielders, Axel smirking, "Here I come!"

"Get down!" Mickey cried out, pushing Aqua and himself to the floor to avoid in getting sliced in half, before the mouse king got up and shouted, "That's not nice in throwing weapons around!" Only to find that Axel disappeared...only to reappear behind the two keybearers.

"Yeah, well," Axel smirked, "Gotta use what I got!" before he attempted to slice Aqua who blocked each of his attacks with her Keyblade.

Finally, Aqua grunted and yelled, "That's enough!" and she too clashed in return, though when she finally thought she caught him off-guard, Axel teleported away in time and yet he was still smirking.

This angered her more, but she had to keep her temper in check, for she didn't want to end up her heart fall into darkness. Instead, she aimed her Keyblade at Axel and summoned, "Freeze!" her Blizzard spell, seemingly freezing him.

Or not.

"Not bad, for a girl." Axel muttered as he easily melted the ice around him. "Just so you know, I have the ability of fire."

Aqua didn't like this, so she casted Thunder as did Mickey who did a triple air-somersault with his Keyblade and actually hit Axel, giving Aqua's thunder a chance to electrocute him and he screamed out in pain, before the two Keyblade wielders joined hands and did the special powers of Light spin(Whatever that's called) and as Axel tried to reach them, he kept on hitting injured until finally...he was defeated and disappeared.

The fight was over, and when Aqua and Mickey both landed back on the ground, the card Axel left behind floated in front of them. Aqua picked it up carefully, and examined it.

"Gosh, it just like the last card we used." Mickey realised as he gazed at the card. "I wonder what it means?"

"I guess we just keep going." Aqua thought.

"That's right." a too familiar voice stated, and it sounded like it was grinning. Aqua and Mickey both gasped, and they were shocked to find Axel near the staircase, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, as if he wasn't put into a battle against them at all.

"Axel!?" Mickey exclaimed as he and Aqua both returned to defense stances.

Axel smirked, before standing up and approached them, saying as he walked, "Did you really think after that introduction, I would give up oh so easily?"

"Was that some kind of test?" Aqua demanded.

"Yup, and you passed." Axel nodded, "Congratulations! I gotta admit, you sure put up a good fight. It's no wonder you're a Keyblade wielder."

"If you think I'm interested in the Darkness, think twice." Aqua stated.

The redheaded pyro snickered, "Spoken like a hero." before giving a serious frown, "But I can tell that you both stumbled into the darkness, yet it hasn't gotten hold of either of you. Care to explain that?"

Aqua tried to drive away the terrible memories of when she dived into the corridor of darkness to save Terra and sacrificed herself to sent him back into the Realm of Light, and became trapped for ten long years, even if time was different, as she hasn't aged a single day since that day. She remained silent. Mickey was silent as well, as he refused to tell Axel about his current Keyblade.

"I'll take that as a 'you don't want to tell me'." Axel finally stated. He shrugged, "That's cool. None of my business, I get it. But still, you need to trust your memories and your heart if you want to get through Castle Oblivion. No one has ever seen all of this place-not even me."

"So you don't know much about this place either?" Mickey asked, a little confused, but not letting his guard down.

"Come on," Axel muttered, "This place ain't known as Castle Oblivion for nothing."

"Then what is it that you and your the other man want?" Aqua inquired.

"That," Axel smirked again, "I'm not telling." before holding out a hand for an offer, "Unless you would like me to give you a hint?"

That was enough for Aqua as she summoned her Keyblade again, and snapped, "Never!"

"That's right! We're not gonna join you!" Mickey added, jumping in front of Aqua to protect his friend.

This made Axel chuckle, retreating his hand, saying, "Good answer. Just what I'd expect from the Keyblade master." before frowning again, "But be forewarned...If you give into your darkest memories, you may no longer be who you are now." as he teleports away and disappears.

Hearing this made Aqua remember her encounter with the one eye-patched man from twelve years ago, and then she realised, to her horror, she was being used...just as Terra was used by Xehanort.

" _You think you two have got some grand role to play. As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off...Terra will succumb to the darkness._ " Braig's voice echoed in her mind.

And then, before that...

" _I was stupid and helped Xehanort do it. The Master-he tried to hurt Ven. I only fought because I wanted to protect him. But I was tricked. Xehanort set the whole thing up-all so he could awaken the darkness inside me._ " Terra's voice.

Aqua sighed, holding her hand to her chest, clutching it, as she muttered, "What else is darkness but hate and rage?" repeating those words she told Terra all those years ago.

"Aqua?" Mickey asked worriedly.

"Maybe the darkness is starting to get to me too." Aqua continued, not really paying attention. "I've been in the Realm of Darkness for too long. I couldn't even...I couldn't even save my friends..."

"It's not your fault, Aqua." Mickey reassured. "You're not to blame for what happened to them. You can still save them. We just have to find Ven's heart and figure out where Terra is, as well as finding Riku." he pointed out. "Don't listen to what Axel or that other guy are saying-they're just tryin' to trick you."

After a moment, Aqua nodded, replying, "You're right. I've been given a second chance." she pulled out her Wayfinder and gazed at it. "I'll find a way, and this time, I won't fall into the darkness."

Mickey laughed, "Now you're talkin'! C'mon, let's find a way outta here."

"Right." Aqua nodded, "And Mickey...thank you."

"Aw, gosh." Mickey's cheeks went a little pink in embarrassment.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lounge part of Castle Oblivion, Axel reappeared, his thoughts troubled. Did he reveal too much? Nah, that's not it. No, he had to focus on his assignment.

"This woman's memories link to ten years ago, if I recall correctly." Larxene muttered as she was lying on the couch side-ways, reading a book, 'Marquis de Sade.', and she continued, "You're too careful around that woman, Axel. I would've kicked her around more."

Axel frowned, "Yeah, well, I have healthier hobbies than you, Larxene." he told her. He was mentally relieved that no one in the Organization liked her that much. He was beginning to suspect that even Xemnas didn't like her either.(And really, how can blame him?)

"How can you say that?" Larxene asked as she puts the book away, "Anyway, you're interested in this girl, aren't you? The way how she is chosen by the Keyblade. But you're more interested in her heart."

"None of us heard of this person before." Axel said, "But I could sense that she's been in the Realm of Darkness." he could sense the familiar pressence of the Realm of Darkness like the Heartless and the Nobodies. "But she still remained whole. Like Sora, this girl's heart is full of light. To survive in a place like that for so long..."

"Are you saying that she's alive because of her heart?" Larxene inquired.

Axel nodded, "Most likely. I want to know what's hidden in her heart, like how Sora returned to normal after becoming a Heartless at Hollow Bastion. Must be the power of the Keyblade or something." just as Marluxia returned as well, once again taking off his hood, and once again, rose petals floated all over the place.

"To unlock the mysteries of the heart-That is the Organization's purpose-The reason for our being." Marluxia began. "I have been entrusted with the management of Castle Oblivion."

"Even if you have no idea about much of this place either." Larxene pointed out, "So anyway, boss, what do we do with this girl?"

"Perhaps she could be a use to us." Marluxia stated, "I believe that not even she can resist the darkness."

Axel remained silent on this. This was going to be tougher than he thought.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this is confusing, but this is only just the beginning. It's going to take longer than I thought, but it's worth it. In the meantime, fellow readers, please continue your amazing reviews and I'll see you again in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4: Darkness in Zero

**Author's note: Here's the fourth chapter. I do not own the rights of Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix.**

 _ **Chapter four: Darkness in Zero.**_

* * *

Once again in Twilight Town, Roxas and Xion who seemed more and more familiar to Roxas, but he didn't understand why she was familiar to him. He broke out of his thoughts, however, as he was supposed to tell her that their mission was once again in Twilight Town. They were supposed to eliminate a Darkside Heartless, not that Roxas knew what it was.

"...What's a Darkside?" he asked.

"I think it's that!" Xion pointed as she was alarmed on a giant Darkside Heartless, to which Roxas also noticed. It didn't seem to look happy either.

"It's HUGE!" Xion exclaimed, before she worriedly asked, "How are we supposed to defeat that thing?"

Roxas replied, "We can do it! We just have to both attack at once! Let's go!"

There was a moment of an awkward pause, but they quickly fought against the Heartless, attacking it at the same time as they could while avoiding in getting hit as well. However, Roxas was grabbed by the Darkside and dropped his Keyblade which landed near Xion. "Xion, throw it to me!" he cried out.

Xion quickly went to pick it up, but to her astonisment, it magically appeared in her hand. As if feeling familiarized and acting on instinct, she completely destoryed the Darkside, and Roxas fell and landed on the ground with a thud, before the Keyblade left Xion and returned to a surprised Roxas as he stood up.

"I did not expect that." He admitted.

"Neither did I." Xion admitted.

Looking at each other, they both smiled before bursting into laughter. Roxas then told Xion, "You earned the Icing on the Cake."

"Huh?" Xion asked, puzzled.

"C'mon, I'll show you." Roxas replied.

* * *

A little while later...Roxas and Xion were both on the clock tower after buying some Ice Cream, and Xion had to admit...she liked it up here.

"This is such a great spot." Xion said, smiling. "How'd you find it?" before she was handed an ice cream by Roxas.

"Sea-salt ice cream. C'mon, try it." Roxas encouraged.

Xion took a bite out of it, and blinked in surprise. "It's Sweet...and Salty."

"It's good, right?" Roxas replied, before explaining, "Axel brought me here to eat ice cream on my first day with the Organization. And then after my first mission, he got me ice cream again. Said it was _"icing on the cake."_."

Hearing this made Xion giggle, "You guys must be close."

"Huh?" Roxas asked, blushing, before he smiled again, and answered, "Yeah. Axel's my first friend. We always meet up here after work to eat ice cream and talk about stupid stuff."

"That sounds nice." Xion thought, before wondering, "Do you think I could be a friend too?"

Hearing this made Roxas happy with the idea, and he said, "Sure! Then we can all meet up here and eat ice cream together!"

"I can't wait!" Xion said excitedly.

However, both of them didn't know of the dangerous fate that would befall of them and the Organization.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the darkest part of Castle Olibvion, Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion were having a conversation of their own on the troubles that are happening ever since they, Axel, Marluxia and Larxene arrived at the Castle in the first place.

"You detected something in the lowest basement?" Vexen inquired to Zexion, "Are you sure it's not a Heartless or the mysterious beings you detected earlier? Explain, Zexion."

Zexion nodded, "I picked up two scents. One of them was Maleficent."

"A double from the card." Lexaeus muttered.

"Yes," Zexion continued, "And the other scent belonged too..." but he was interrupted by Vexen who began to screech and complain loudly...a little too loudly.

"Marluxia and the others must be up to something above-ground." Vexen began to shout, getting more angerier, "Those disrespectful hooligans! They have no sense of solidarity!"

Zexion stared at him and asked, "Um...May I continue?"

But he was ignored, as Vexen continued to rant, "And the way they speak to their elders! They hardly spare me a second glance, let alone offer a word of greeting!" remembering in his head on how Marluxia, Larxene and Axel would just practically ignore him, and, really, who would want to pay attention to this idiot?

"Yes, greetings are vital." Zexion agreed, "That's why our goal for this month is to make sure to say hello-" only to be cut off again.

"Nevermind! Just get on with it already!" Vexen snapped. Geez, this guy should go to 'How-to-control-your-tantrum-problems' school.

Lexaeus was surprised by this, as he thought to himself, ' _Vexen...I had no idea you felt so disrespected._ '

Finally, Zexion was able to continue, "The other scent belonged to...Riku."

"What!? Riku!?" Vexen exclaimed, "But that's impossible! He and that king were lost when they ventured beyond the door to darkness!"

"But there is one thing." Zexion told his companions, "His scent is very similiar to the Superior, just as the mysterious being that driven away the other visitor and caused Namine's disappearence. So similiar, that they're almost exactly the same."

Unfortunately, Vexen's suggestion seemed to be a very dumb one. "Maybe they're using the same cologne?"

Zexion slumped at this with a sweatdrop.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mickey and Aqua were continuing down the hall when they both stopped, and paused. They could both sense someone up ahead...to Mickey, someone quite familiar.

"...I think I know who's up ahead." Mickey said, starting to feel hope.

"Only one way to find out." Aqua agreed, as she and her friend broke into a run, but they didn't need to go far, as to their relief and Aqua's confusion, was a familiar boy who seemed to have stopped and stood from his walking for quite awhile.

It was Riku, and Mickey was relieved to have finally found him, though the King was confused on how Riku got here in the first place.

"...Maybe there is no turning back." Riku thought to himself, losing a bit on confidence and troubled by DiZ's words.

"Riku." Mickey muttered, slowly approaching his troubled young friend, with Aqua following.

Riku, not really turning around and thinking that he was hearing Mickey's voice in his head, muttered, "Your Majesty...do you really think I can reach the light?" in doubt with himself.

"Don't worry Riku." Mickey assured, trying to make the fifteen year old feel better.

"What if I open my eyes, but still only see darkness?" Riku asked worriedly.

Mickey sighed, finally having reached Riku, and told him, "Don't give up on yourself!" to which Riku finally turned around and to say that Riku was surprised and shocked would've been an understatement, especially since there was a girl he didn't recongise but felt he knew her at the same time.

While Aqua could sense the darkness in Riku's heart, she didn't want to make him feel any worse, especially since he's still fairly young. Riku's just lucky that he made it out of the Realm of Darkness quicker than she had.

"...Is that really you?" Riku finally asked.

"Uh-huh!" Mickey replied, but was caught off-guard when Riku gently touched his cheeks, and, being somewhat ticklish, Mickey cried out, laughing, "Whoa! Ha-ha! That tickles!" and the teen lets him go, relieved. Aqua laughed at the sight, finding it cute.

"I knew I'd find you." Mickey told Riku, but then he and Aqua gasped as Riku collasped onto the floor, but both sighed in relief as he was just happy.

Riku told them, "Ahh..I'm okay. Don't worry. Guess I'm just relieved. I've-I've been

alone so long that having someone else around is...is a little...overwhelming."

He then asked, "But uh, how did you make it here? And who's this? I feel like I've met her before."

There was an awkward pause, until finally, Aqua knelt down to Riku and replied, "We have met, ten years ago, with Sora. You grew up really quickly, Riku."

That's when Riku remembered; ten years ago, he was only five years old, while Sora was only four back then. Both of them were playing race, until they met a weird but pretty and very nice lady. "I remember now." Riku realised. "How...?"

"It's a long story." Aqua replied, "My name is Aqua."

Ever some explanations on what was happening, and how Riku was confronted by the mysterious man in a red cloak, how Aqua ended up in the Realm of Darkness and how Mickey was reuighted with Aqua, they came to the same conclusion; They were being lead to somewhere by someone.

"Riku, fight the darkness within you." Mickey told his young friend. "It won't be easy...but, even in the deepest darkness, there's always a little bit of light."

Hearing this made Aqua remember the story Kairi's grandmother once mentioned back in Radiant Garden ten years ago.

"I'll be alright." Riku told them, "I won't let that guy get his way." referring to DiZ.

"And we'll be there with you." Aqua told him, helping the teen up as the two stood up. "We should find a way out of this place."

"Don't worry, Riku." Mickey added, "We're always with you, and so are Sora and Kairi."

Riku smiled. It felt good to have friends with him. "Thank you, your majesty and Aqua."

* * *

Back with Zexion's group...

"Riku was once with the darkness. Perhaps that made him half-dark." Zexion chronicled with the other two. "And that's why I mistook him for the superior. Not because of his cologne."

"All right, already." Vexen said, rather annoyed, even though he's the one who brought up the cologne thing in the first place.

"But he's not the only problem." Lexaeus reminded, as he finished up a puzzle. "There's still the mysterious two visitors that appeared before Riku."

Vexen then remembered, "And two others; however, their darkness is almost none existant, and without Sora, things won't go easy. Perhaps the mysterious resident from the Realm of Darkness would be worth getting data from."

The other two were not amused. Either way, they and the other three Nobodies had so many problems at the moment.

* * *

Back upstairs, Axel and Larxene were watching through the security cameras, and were quite shocked to see Riku meeting up with King Mickey and Aqua.

"Explain to me how that little brat got here...!" Larxene grunted angerily.

Axel shrugged, "I'm just as lost as you are." turning to the cameras again, "And it looks like Riku and the King know that woman...If I heard right, they said that her name is Aqua."

He didn't flinch when Larxene punched one of the screens, cracking and smashing it in anger, as she grunted furiously, "That does it. I'm going to deal with them myself!"

"You might wanna cool down if we're gonna find a way to complete the offical plan." Axel's face grew dark when he concluded, "...If we're going to take over the Organization."

"Keep that under your hood, Axel, until the time is right." Larxene advised as she teleported away.

Once she was gone, Axel smirked and he said, "You would've been wise to do the same, Larxene."

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Sora and his group...

Sora, Namine, Donald and Goofy continued on their journey through out most of the day which the field around them was still refreshing. It was somewhat relaxing, a bit boring, but relaxing. During the journey, Namine found she enjoyed travelling, and actually wants to meet her original self, so Sora promised that once they found Riku and the King, then they can all return to their homes and Namine could live with Kairi like her own sister. Namine liked that idea. Eventually, however, they arrived at a beach that kinda looked like they were on a small island.

There were palm trees, fruit, and strangely, wooden boxes, a wooden tall watch-out tower(whatever that is), and a small hill that had old but fairly still in good condition cloths, ropes and sheets.

"Aw Phooey! I knew we should've gone the other way!" Donald complained, glaring at Goofy who shrugged apologetically.

"Well, there's no point in going back now." Sora pointed out, "Besides, we could end up bumping into that weird guy who tried to hurt Namine." seeing the Namine was nervous on the thought of going back again.

"I'm sorry if I'm in your way all the time." Namine sighed.

Sora felt a bit bad for hearing that, and said, "It's not your fault. It just happened this way. I mean, seriously, no one can predict the future, right?"

"Gee, the only thing I can think of is that we cross the ocean." Goofy said, pointing at the sea ahead of them, "But how're we gonna do that without a boat?"

This gave Sora an idea, one that was supposed to get him, Riku and Kairi to see other worlds before but failed. This time, it might actually happen...with out two of his best friends, though. But still... "We can always build a raft." he suggested.

"What!? Are you crazy!?" Donald exclaimed to Sora in shock.

"You mean...like before?" Namine asked, referring to when before she was born, back when she was still whole with Kairi.

The spikey-haired teen nodded, saying, "We might actually get somewhere, even though it could take a while as we're in the middle of the ocean." he then gestured around the things on the beach, "Plus, all of this stuff would come in handy in making the raft anyway."

Even Goofy agreed, "Yeah, and we can all work together and get it done in no time. Ah-yhuck!"

"Aw nuts." Donald grumbled, knowing he was outnumbered.

With that, the four of them, I mean, the five of them if you want to include Jiminy, all prepared and looked around the beach to collect the supplies to being the development of their raft to continue their journey to find their friends.

* * *

Back in the World that Never Was...

Just as Roxas and Xion returned to the Castle after having ice cream and talking and becoming friends, in front of them was an over-panicking Demyx who was showing a rather annoyed Saix who was writing something down on his clipboard, and reading up, uh, ahem, Demyx's version of a report.

"So you are stating that you saw the man in red who also eliminated Xaldin on your mission?" Saix inquired, into a breaking point of going berserk.

"It's the truth!" Demyx said, practically groveling, and placing his hands together as if he was praying, "Please don't Dusk me! I'm begging yooooouuu!"

His response was being whacked on the head by Saix's claymore, and Demyx cried out, "OW!"

"I'll give you a lecture later as soon as I post an important alert to the remaining members, including the ones who would return from Castle Oblivion." Saix muttered, and pulled Demyx up by the ear, which was a strange sight to Roxas and Xion who both glanced at each other in confusion.

Once Demyx quickly ran out of the room, but ended up dropping his report, Saix placed a piece of paper onto the window, as Roxas and Xion both gave their reports to No.7 who said nothing, though he was mentally disappointed that the two youngest members were already doing more work than Demyx ever did when he first joined the Organization.

Once Saix left as well, picking up Demyx's report and mentally cringing on how badly it was, like a child's hand writing or speaking gibberish, Roxas and Xion both looked at the billboard, and took notice that there was a picture of a man in a read cloak, bandages on his face, his red eye shown, and an explaintion that said, " _We have recently discovered a dangerous man who could be a threat to the Organization. One member is already reported eliminated. Be cautious._ "

"Somebody's trying to eliminate the Organization?" Xion asked worriedly.

"I wonder who he is and why he would be dangerous." Roxas thought, though his mind returned to Axel and, frankly, the young blonde was now worried about his red-haired friend.

Xion muttered, "I hope he doesn't find his way here."

"Yeah." Roxas agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Castle Oblivion...

As Riku, Mickey and Aqua continued their way through the mysterious Castle Oblivion, Aqua couldn't help but keep on feeling like she's been in this place before, but cannot understand how or why, especially since she could feel Master Eraqus's Keyblade react once and awhile. They made it through their memories, one of each so far. They passed through Aqua's memory of Castle of Dreams, Riku's memory of Agrabah, then through more of the memory worlds that Aqua visited ten years ago, and then through Riku's memories just recently-the same worlds Sora visited.

Thankfully Mickey didn't have to go through his own memories, but it was bad enough having to go through more illusions like the time before he even became a king.

"I wonder how many floors this castle has." Mickey couldn't help but mutter.

"There's something familiar about this place, but it doesn't make sense." Aqua thought.

"I'm starting to feel a little bit lost here." Riku admitted, "No wonder it's named Castle Oblivion."

Suddenly, someone appeared in front of them, and the trio quickly got into defence stances, as Larxene was now confronting them, as she greeted, "Are you enjoying your stay in Castle Oblivion?"

Sensing the darkness in this blonde-haired woman, Aqua inquired, "I take that you're with Axel?"

"Too clever." Larxene said, "I'm Larxene. You know, I never expected you three to make it out of the Realm of Darkness. You must be tougher than I imagined."

"How did you know that!?" Mickey demanded, as he and Aqua both summoned their Keyblades, and Riku summoned his Soul-Eater blade.

"I'm not telling." Larxene grinned evilly. She then frowned at Aqua and muttered in annoyance, "It's unfair though that you came to this place, blue-head. Why are you here?"

Mickey and Riku were puzzled on why Larxene seemed to dislike Aqua who was just as confused. But still, the three of them remained silent and prepared to fight if they had to.

While this was happening, Vexen, who appeared earlier, was hiding behind a piller, and just as he was about to approach Riku, Larxene just had to arrive before he had the chance. While the blonde-haired man grunted angerily as he thought how Larxene ruined his plans on getting data from Riku, Mickey, Aqua, Riku and Larxene fell silent, and turned to the piller.

"Who's there?" Mickey demanded, causing Vexen to panic, like, comically as he tried to figure out what to do without screwing up badly. Panicking so badly that Vexen was sweating nervously. He could either run away, or battle, or just talk, and in his head, this went all around in circles, you see.

Finally, he opted for optain C, and came out from his hiding place. "Hmph. Have you no manners?" Vexen muttered as if he didn't panic at all.

Larxene groaned in sheer annoyance, "Ugh. Just what I need-another idiot to irritate me." referring to Vexen.

"IS THAT ANY WAY TO SPEAK TO YOUR SUPERIORS!?" Vexen asked back to Larxene in anger. "BESIDES, I WAS HERE FIRST!"

"Yeah, well, it took you long enough to confront the lady here and the mouse and this brat!" Larxene argued. "Besides, now that that's mentioned, I hate kids and idiots!"

As the two Nobodies got into a heated argument, Riku, Mickey and Aqua all quirked eye-brows, all dumbfounded and confused, having huge sweatdrops on their heads as well as they witnessed the two argue to the point of them fighting each other, of Larxene's lightning and Vexen's shield-ice blasting at each other, and narrowly avoiding the trio who got out of the way and were briefly forgotten.

"I think this would be a good time to make a run for it." Mickey suggested in a whisper to his friends who both nodded in agreement, and as silently as they could, Mickey, Aqua and Riku dashed away from the two Nobodies and had already entered the next world of illusions via memory cards( _Psst!_ **No, it's not a PS2 memory card, but the cards that are crown-shapes. Okay?** ).

The results of Larxene's and Vexen's battle ended quite badly for the two of them.

* * *

In fact, Axel just witnessed the two destroying each other via an extra small camera he snatched earlier as he hid in the hallways from Marluxia. Despite that he now knew that he was right about Marluxia and Larxene, Axel couldn't help but think about what would Zexion and Lexaeus do if they think he destroyed Vexen and Larxene. Sure Marluxia had to be eliminated, but he was troubled if he was suddenly framed for their deaths.

' _Traitors must be eliminated._ ' Those were the rules of the Organization. Axel sighed. He had figured out Marluxia's original goal was to lure Sora here to use Namine to take over the Organization...not that it would work anyway.

"I could always go and kill time by finding those two mysterious guys without getting killed." Axel thought to himself as he stared up at the ceiling. "Man, what a pain." he groaned.

What he didn't know was that the most dangerous enemy in red was closer than he knew.

* * *

"Vexen and Larxene are no more." Zexion told Lexaeus. "Both destroyed each other out of annoyances. It's deplorable, because we're all the same. We should be working together, but now that Vexen and Larxene are gone...that leaves more work for us."

' _Why do I get the feeling I'll be doing Vexen's work?_ ' Lexaeus thought to himself as he looked at the chores board on the wall.

Zexion continued, "At least it's now clear that not only Marluxia is trying to take over the Organization, but Riku has joined with the King once more, along with another Keyblade wielder who could also be a threat to the Organization. It's time to get serious. We're next."

After the two of them silently drank their tea, Zexion muttered, "Lexaeus..."

Hearing this, Lexaeus was silent, thinking in mental annoyance, ' _I knew you'd make me do it._ '

"Go and capture Riku and eliminte his friends. Don't disappoint me like Vexen."

With this, Lexaeus stood up and summoned his Axe Sword before leaving.

It was only ten minutes later that Zexion thought to himself, "What is Axel's motives, I wonder?"

"Nobodies to not have motives." An unfamiliar voice spoke behind him, startling Zexion to turn around...only to be grabbed by the collar and he was then...sickenly punched into the stomach by DiZ who then tossed him into the wall, crashing into the shelves, where Zexion layed motionless, and was fading away into nothing.

DiZ's eyes glowed red again, as he muttered darkly, "I will wipe out all Nobodies...My next victum is approaching my puppet." before he teleports himself away to his next phase.

* * *

Back with Riku and his group...

Aqua and Riku were both somewhat surprised that they both were in Olympus Coliseum and met the villian Captain Hook, before they and Mickey finished off the last two worlds from their memories and eventually arrived in yet another white hallway. In front of them, however, made them get into defence stances once more, as Lexaeus stood in their way, glaring at them.

Riku's eyes narrowed, as he muttered, "You're one of those guys in the black coats."

"I take that you're like Axel and Larxene." Aqua added.

"You've done well thus far, the both of you." Lexaeus told Riku and Aqua. "But to possess your powers, possing another, and fearing the darkness...what a waste."

Riku was about to retort that he doesn't fear it, but Aqua held out a hand to stop him, and she told Lexaeus, "That darkness has no interest in any of us."

"And you're wrong about Riku." Mickey added, "So go away!"

The larger man was not impressed. "If neither of you surrender, then you will all disappear!" as he surrounds himself in red and dark aura which causes a gust of wind to blow at the trio who tried to block the gust with their Keyblades and Soul Eater Blade, but they struggled against the strong pressure before it stopped.

"I, Lexaeus, will not yield to the frail heart-of an infantile coward! Now, stop resisting-and let the darkness in!" Lexaeus roared, before leaping into battle and prepared to slam his weapon at the trio, but they dodged out of the way just in time, before they counter attacked and clashed against the Nobody was very strong as he was not only tall and strong muscular.

"Light!" Mickey aimed his Keyblade at Lexaeus as a beam of light shoots out from the weapon, and actually caught the Nobody off-guard. Lexaeus was even more caught off-guard when Aqua casted her Thunder spell, doing some damage.

However, he did thrust at the two of them, knocking them a few feet away, before Riku counter-attacks Lexaeus, slashing at him on the back before avoiding the larger man's counter attack. Using a cure spell, Mickey and Aqua both rejoined Riku in the battle, and the three of them preformed a trinity power of light, fire and water, twirling around and hitting Lexaeus multiple times when he tried to attack them, but failed.

Once the attack is over, all four of them have become exhausted. Lexaeus was the first to break the silence, "Such powers...and yet, Riku, you refuse to join us."

"Why would I want to join you?" Riku demanded.

"If you continue to fear the darkness...you will eventually lose sight of both the dark and the Light." Lexaeus warned.

"Go ahead of waste your time." Aqua told the Nobody, "Keep trying to convince Riku with your mind-games. It'll never work!"

"And none of us will let you win either!" Mickey added, "There's no way Riku's gonna let his heart fall into darkness again."

This made Lexaeus furious, as he yelled, "Don't mock me!" but before he could attack, something slashed at him, causing him to freeze in shock all together, and his weapon dropped with a large thud on the ground before it vanished. Behind him, was Marluxia, who grinned evilly as he had his scythe in hand.

Aqua, Riku and Mickey all gasped in sheer horror of what just happened. I mean, who wouldn't? Marluxia just KILLED Lexaeus!

"It appears that things turned out quite different." Marluxia said, smirking.

Grunting in realisation as he began to fade away, Lexaeus muttered, "You traitor..." before adding to himself, "Forgive me, Zexion...this was a fight I shouldn't have started." before he faded and disappeared completely.

"You just..." Aqua was in shock, unable to say what she wanted to say. "You killed him!" she finally managed to say at Marluxia who grinned at her.

"He was in the way." Marluxia spoke, and Aqua and Mickey both gasped as they recongised his voice...the one they met earlier. "Welcome to Castle Oblivion, Keyblade bearers."

"You're the one that lead the king and Aqua here?" Riku demanded.

The pink-haired man( **who had the idea of having his hair pink anyway? Not that I don't like it, because pink is my favorite colour.** ) chuckled, and replied, "Clever boy. However, I have no use for you; it's Aqua that I want."

At that response, Aqua, Mickey and Riku quickly healed themselves with curuga magic from Aqua who demanded at Marluxia, "What do you want from me!?"

"I could use an aid from you...you are my last resort in taking over the Organization." Marluxia finally admitted, "So, what do you say, my dear?"

"Never!" Aqua boldly replied, ready to fight along side King Mickey and Riku, as she glared at the pink-haired man.

However, just before anyone could do anything else, another familiar man appeared, this time, the bright red hair was enough for anyone to recongise who arrived after failing to find his other targets. "Hey. Hope I'm not interruping?" Axel greeted, and Marluxia's face now grew dark. "It's just, I mean...I'm wondering what we're gonna do, now that it's just you and me." Axel continued.

While Aqua, Mickey and Riku had no idea what the redhead was talking about, Marluxia growled, "Axel...you have some nerve...If you hadn't gone and searched for the other two mysterious occupants..."

At this, Axel chuckled, "Even so, were you seriously trying to overthrow the Organization?" and a sound of a 'shing!' as he summoned his chakrams. "You know what happens to traitors." before he leaped forward and tries to slash him, but he evades using super speed. Marluxia tries to slash Axel, but he jumps out of the way.

While they two were fighting, Marluxia yelled, "Organization lapdog!"

"That's what you get for betraying the Organization!" Axel pointed out, as he threw his chrakrams at Marluxia who blocked them with his scythe, before the weapons returned to Axel who caught them skillfully, but then he had to block Marluxia's energy wave with difficulty.

But then another energy wave moved passed Axel and made it's way towards Aqua, Riku and Mickey who gasped in shock, before Aqua responded by summoning a barrier to protect herself and her friends, and Marluxia laughed at this, causing Axel to realise that his opponent just turned his attention to the trio.

"Hey! We're not finished yet!" Axel yelled out.

But Marluxia only responded to Axel with a 'Heh' before saying to Aqua, "If you wish to find me, Aqua, then come meet me in the next room. But first...you must take out Axel for he tends to do your friends harm." before he teleported away, just as Aqua, Riku and Mickey gasped, but knew that they couldn't catch him disappearing.

"Aw man, would you look at that? You let him get away because of you appearence." Axel told Aqua who got into a fighting stance to fight him. He chuckled, "Listen, Aqua, you aren't gonna fall for Mister Flower Petal's stupid little trick, are you? He just wants to make you angry so that you can end up forming darkness inside you."

Hearing this made Aqua gasp, slowly realising that, much as she hated it, that he was right. Mickey and Riku both glanced at each other, wondering what they should do. The three of them were confused as Axel dismissed his chakrams, as he said, "Hey. I just wanted to get rid of Marluxia. If you want do it, then I'll be a gentlement and let the lady go first. Be my guest." he ordered Aqua towards the stairs.

Seeing that the trio didn't move, Axel waved his hand at them with a gesture, ' _Shoo, shoo!_ ' saying, "I said, go!" before asking, "Do you want to fight me that much? You guys don't want to get me serious. I might actually destroy you."

"Shut up!" Aqua snapped. "I'm sick of you people!"

"That's the spirit." Axel smirked, impressed of the young woman's bravery. "Don't let him beat you. I need you guys alive. Good luck." before he vanished, now that his mission is complete.

"What did he mean by, needing us alive?" Riku asked, supicious.

"Aw, I'm pretty sure Axel was just tryin' to confuse all of us." Mickey believed.

Aqua, not wanting to have her heart casted into darkness, replied, "You're right. I guess we just have to stop Marluxia and find a way out of here." declaring, "Lets go."

"Aqua, Riku...Are you both okay?" Mickey asked, worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but, I can't give up now." Riku was the first to reply.

"Maybe the darkness has gotten to me too." Aqua muttered sadly on the other hand, "But I know that I can't give up either."

Despite still being worried for his friends, Mickey still followed the two of them up the stairs for the final battle against Marluxia, all of them and Axel unaware of DiZ's next move.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that this chapter seemed extremely rushed, but I wanted to get Castle Oblivion out of the way as this is a, somewhat a prologue mode before we go for the main storyline of this story.**

 **In the meantime, fellow readers, please continue your amazing reviews, and I'll see you again in the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Loss and Reunion

**Author's note: I do not own the rights of Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix. Sorry, but most of the fights will be half and in memories at certain points.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter five: Loss and Reunion.**_

After he left Aqua, Mickey and Riku, Axel decided that he no longer had any desires to be in this place, and since Castle Oblivion is like a giant maze, he couldn't find either the two 'guests' who came here earlier, or even what the Superior was looking for. The next thing to do was to make his report, report it to Saix, and then he can finally go home.

He was walking through the halls which, though it didn't seem like it, were a total wreck and a hellva mess done by Aqua's group.

"All righty then. Guess I'd better get my report together." Axel grumbled, "Man, what a pain." as he looked around the mess and damaged parts.

" _Castle Oblivion...was completely destroyed by two unknown attackers, as well as Riku, the King and the new female Keyblade wielder. As for the Organization...I was the only survivor._ " Axel practiced his lines to write his report, though he could hear the commotion above him and the battle that was going on. "Or soon will be."

Sighing and deciding to make sure that he would be the only one, Axel muttered to himself, "Man, I wanna get back and have some ice cream." before wondering if Roxas would still be at the Clock Tower after each of his own missions.

* * *

As soon as the trio found Maluxia on the next floor, they quickly fought as they didn't have any room to talk, and Aqua wouldn't allow the Nobody to trick her or her friends. They fought long and hard, but half-way during the battle, however, just as Marluxia was about to strike again, he was sudden struck from behind, and he froze in shock at the unexpected attack, which Aqua, Mickey and Riku were all stunned on what just happened.

"You do not exist, Nobody." a voice that Riku recongised spoke, and the silver-haired teen gasped.

DiZ was standing behind the now fading Marluxia, his hand stretched out as he had hit the Nobody with a powerful source of Darkness. Marluxia had no words, as he just collasped but vanished before he even hit the floor. Aqua, Mickey and Riku were horrified at the display of darkness, before glaring up at DiZ who smirked evilly.

"Now that he's out of the way, I shall have my puppet." DiZ announced, offering his hand to Riku, saying, "Come, Riku. Your only purpose is to serve me."

"No." Riku shook his head, "What makes you think I'll join you?" getting into a fighting stance.

Mickey's eyes furrowed as he gazed at DiZ. He felt that the man in red looked familiar, but at the same time, there was a terrible darkness that was inside him that made the king mentally shudder. "What do you want with Riku?" he quired.

"I would need him to finish off Organization XIII and to find Sora." DiZ answered. "Once they left their home, their only purpose was to serve the Worlds and protect them, driving away any threat."

"So you think that Sora and Riku don't have a choice even if they would want to go home?" Aqua demanded, joining Riku and Mickey into defence and fighting stance. The darkness inside this man...it felt so horribly familiar. "Who are you?" she asked.

DiZ stood tall, losing his smirk. "I am the servant of the Worlds. All those who protected them are no more than tools, mistakenly given hearts."

"You're wrong!" Mickey cried out, feeling angry, "It's the darkness inside you that's makin' you try and hurt our friends. I'm not sure what kind of darkness, but you don't want to save the worlds! We won't let you take away our friends!"

"Then you leave me with no choice." DiZ stretched out his hand again and a gust of wind bursted out. It was so strong that Aqua, Mickey and Riku, who had dealt with other powerful gusts during their journey in Castle Oblivion, couldn't even block this gust of wind and were easily blown and thrown like rag dolls before they all landed hard on the floor, quickly worn out as their weapons desummoned themselves.

As Aqua painfully tried to get up, DiZ was slowly approaching her and the other two who were also having difficulty in getting up. She desperately tried, but she was quickly exhausted to the point of shutting her eyes and prayed that something would happen. She failed again.

"NO!" Another familiar voice shouted, and when Aqua opened her eyes, she gasped in disbelief, as did Mickey and Riku who was twice as shocked as Aqua. Standing in front of them was a familiar young man with brown hair, and a familiar Keyblade.

Terra.

"You...!" DiZ growled at the sighto of the younger man.

"Terra...Terra it's you!" Aqua muttered in relief and disbelief. The last time she ever saw her friend...but how did he return to normal? He looked the same as she last saw him in the Keyblade Graveyard ten years ago.

Terra, who wanted to turn around and greet his friend, knew that there was no time. He knew what he had to do to keep her and Ven safe. He didn't know where Ven was, but he had a feeling that the blond was safe for now. Aiming his Keyblade behind him and over Aqua, Mickey and Riku who looked surprised and confused.

"Terra?" Aqua asked, uncertainly.

"Aqua...Riku...I'm sorry. It's the only way." Terra muttered, as he summoned a portal behind the trio who suddenly knew what he was doing; He was going to sacrifice himself to by them time to escape DiZ.

"Terra, no!" Aqua screamed, as she, Riku who also tried to stay but he was already sucked in, long with Mickey who screamed, and Aqua cried out, "I'm not-I'm not losing you again!"

But it was too late. She too was swallowed up by the portal and Aqua gave out a final scream of pleading before the portal closed, and Terra was left behind with DiZ who smirked evilly. Just as Terra turned back, DiZ quickly used his dark powers and Terra was instantly frozen, causing him to drop his Keyblade.

"Can't move!" Terra grunted.

DiZ walked up to the trapped Keyblade wielder and inched close to his face, whispering, "You'll do for now. Until I can get Riku and Sora." before he teleported himself and the frozen Terra through darkness and out of Castle Oblivion.

* * *

Inside the Chamber of Waking, the comatose Ven who was still asleep and his body still the same as ten years ago, with his eyes closed, shed tears as he sensed what happened.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Sora's group...

It took about three hours to make the raft and get supplies, but finally..."Finished!" Sora exclaimed happily. The raft was complete. The sheet would be used as a sail, hand-made boxes filled with supplies, and Donald provided magical bottles holding fresh spring water and more boxes with with fruit.

"Wow, the raft looks amazing." Namine admitted. She felt a bit more free, having to help out her new friends, and being able to be outside more than when she was born.

"I guess that means we're ready to sail." Goofy thought happily.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Let's get sailing!" Donald declared.

"Hold on a sec." Sora told them, "Our Raft needs a name first." causing the others to look at him, with questionable looks, causing him to sweatdrop and shrug, "Or not."

After an hour break, the group pushed the raft into the water and climbed on before it could float away without them, and with that, with hand-made oars, the group of five set sail towards their next adventure in hopes of finding Riku and the King and return home, and welcoming Namine to Destiny Islands.

* * *

It was an hour after Aqua, Mickey and Riku found themselves in a grassy field as they made it out of the portal, but while they were relieved that they were out of Castle Oblivion, they were upset as Terra had sacrificed himself to save them.

They managed to recover from their injuries, but as they stopped for a rest, they couldn't help but feel guilty for the loss of Aqua's friend.

"Aqua? Are you okay?" Mickey asked, worriedly. He couldn't blame her for what's happened. He'd be feeling like how Aqua's feeling right now if anything happened to Donald or Goofy.

But the blue-haired woman didn't answer. She hasn't even talked for the past hour. Finally, she muttered, "I...need some time alone." and walked off ahead of the other two.

Sighing as he watched poor Aqua walk off for a while, Mickey looked at Riku and asked, "How about you, Riku? Are you going home?"

"I don't know." Riku admitted as he sat on the rock where he rested. "I can't feel Ansem like I had before, but, there's still that darkness that DiZ forced within me. How can I face Sora, Kairi or everyone back at home like this?"

For once Mickey didn't know the answer, and repeating what he said earlier problably would make things worse, so, he just sighed, and muttered, "We'll work something out. We should rest first."

As Aqua paused on the path that lead on miles and miles of more field, she finally broke down into tears and buried her face in her palms and cried. She felt so lost despite having finally made it back into the Realm of Light. Maybe she should've just statyed in the Dark Realm and be lost in the darkness. All her dreams back years ago were for nothing.

'... _I don't even deserve the title of Master at all_.' Aqua thought miserably. ' _I just...I just want Terra, Ven and the Master back_.' as she continued to cry.

* * *

Back with Roxas...

When he learned about Castle Oblivion being destroyed and that there were no suvivors, Roxas was in shock and disbelief that Axel, his friend, was gone, never to be seen again. The Dusks made the report on the notice. Roxas was so shocked and upset that during a mission with Xigbar in Agrabah that Roxas couldn't think straight, and finally, he collasped as something happened.

Xion, who returned from her mission on that same day, noticed Lord Xemnas leaving Roxas's room, and when she took a peak, she was shocked on not only finding her new friend in comatose, but with ink on his face and pink bows in his hair.

"Roxas!?" She softly exclaimed.

* * *

"So Lord Xemnas drew all over Roxas's face?" Xigbar asked, grinning as he drank coffee. "As if. It was totally the Dusks." knowing all too well on how the useless Dusks would do childish jokes on anyone.

Xion, who was with Xigbar, Demyx(who again was playing on his siter), Luxord and Xaldin, muttered, "I was sure it was Xemnas who drew on Roxas's face." much to the others's amusement.

"Ha! That'd be awesome!" Demyx bursted out laughing, as Luxord also bursted into laughter.

Despite this, Xion continued to worry, and the next day, she found that it got worse, and so she decided to clean up the mess so that Xemnas wouldn't notice, though Demyx warned her that the Dusks would keep doing it.

* * *

The next day after that, Xion saw that the Dusks had done it again and she screamed out in disbelief and desperation, while Demyx, who again joined her, muttered in a understanding but knowing tone, "Told ya."

After that the next day, Saix found them in Roxas's room and gave Demyx an ear-pulling lecture(which is really funny) while sending Xion off on her next mission, though he was probably unaware on how stupid the Dusks were at this stage.

In the meantime, Xion, finding herself on a beautiful world with a beach and sea shells, brought one each to Roxas in hopes that he would eventually wake up.

* * *

 _"Ven...Ventus!...I know it's a only place, but you'll be safe...Terra and I will be back before you know it...Ven...I'm sorry...one day...you will waken again...I'll come back someday...I promise...Ven..."_

 _"Sora!...I know you will come back! And make sure to bring my lucky charm to me! Sora...!"_

 _Ven? Sora? No. My name is..._

Roxas opened his eyes, tiredly as he wondered what happened. He was surrounded by sea shells on his bed, but he felt groggy in the head, and starving. Still, he couldn't believe that Axel was gone.

Despite that Xion was relieved that Roxas was awake again and told him what happened as he was passed out for three weeks, Roxas was still sad that he would never see Axel again and Xigbar told him, "No use in crying over spilled milk." but that didn't help either.

He returned to Twilight Town on his next mission, but when Roxas noticed the same three kids he saw earlier, he couldn't help but remember his time of having ice cream with Axel. He was so lost in his thoughts that the young teen didn't notice Heartless and they attacked him out of the blue.

Snapping back to reality on that attack, Roxas summoned the Keyblade and fought against the Heartless, but he was losing concentration as he kept on thinking about Axel to the point of getting pinned down by the Heartless. However, the said Heartless was destroyed by a Chakram that seemed to appear out of nowhere, and all of the Heartless were annilated.

While panting for breath, Roxas heard a familiar voice cockly say to him, "That was a close call, eh, Roxas?" and when the boy turned around, his expression was priceless as he looked in sheer disbelief.

"Hey there." Axel greeted as he approached the teen.

"AXEL!?" Roxas exclaimed, pointing his Keyblade at Axel, shaking all over with a shocked expression. It was like his friend came back from the dead.

The red-haired Nobody quirked an eye-brow at the younger Nobody's expression, and asked, "What's wrong? You've seen a ghost?"

It appeared that Roxas looked like he was seeing a ghost, as the teen stood up after dismissing the Keyblade and he blabblered and stuttered on, "But...I thought you were gone! Castle Oblivion-The whole team was annihilated!"

"Oh come on." Axel grumbled, unable to believe what he was hearing. Was the kid really that worried about him? He was a lot more tougher than the guys who are now gone at Castle Oblivion. "You thought I would be annihilated? Don't be stupid." he lightly flicked Roxas on the head, "I told you I'd be back before you know it." he told him.

Despite being flicked on the head, Roxas formed a huge relieved smile and his eyes glimmered in tears. "I'll go buy us some ice cream!" and ran off to get the treats as Axel watced him go.

* * *

"Don't listen to the Dusks." Axel advised after Roxas told him about the reports. "They never get the facts straight." before taking a bite out of the ice cream and Axel smiled. He was certianly happy to be having ice cream again. Upon speaking about ice cream, Roxas told him how he started inviting Xion for ice cream while Axel was at Castle Oblivion.

"Xion?" Axel asked, slightly confused, but then he remembered and muttered, "Oh right, No.14."

Roxas nodded, and continued, finishing, "So I promised her that when you got back, the three of us would all have ice cream together." but became puzzled as Axel, who just took another bite out of the ice cream, was so surprised and shocked that he spat it back out. "Are...you okay with that?" Roxas asked, worriedly.

The redhead nodded, getting over his shock and confusion, replying, "Yeah, it's fine." before he asked, "Just...what were you up to while I was gone?"

Roxas smiled, happy that Axel was back. The fogginess and sadness was completely gone.

* * *

After returning to the castle, Axel returned to his room for a nap since he was completely exhausted. He decided to give out his report later, and layed in his bed. When he couldn't sleep, he shifted his pillow up so he can sit-lay there, with his hands behind his head. He gazed out of his window in his cell-like room, gazing at the growing heart-shaped moon that was Kingdom Hearts.

He suddenly sensed something/or someone coming, and looked to his right, then relaxed a little when it was someone he knew. "Ever heard of knocking?" Axel sighed, as Saix teleported in.

"Why didn't you report in?" Saix ignored Axel's comment.

"Can't you let me catch my breath?"

"You took the time for the detour on your way back."

Hearing this made Axel roll his eyes. Might as well get over with it. "I gotta hand to you, you were right." Axel began, "About Marluxia and the traitors. You knew who to send."

"Hmph." Saix muttered, "I only send those who were getting in the way."

"And reduced our numbers in half." Axel smirked, finishing for the blue-haired man. "You're not afraid to break any eggs. Sure hope...I wasn't one of those eggs."

Saix remained silent on that, which Axel noticed and protested, "Hey, whoa there. That's a bad time for you to go silent on me."

"It's good to see that you made it back safely." Saix responded.

"Yeah, well, you can relax." Axel replied, "I just moved things around just the way you wanted, even though we have a major problem in those two mysterious guys who knocked out some of our numbers."

"And I thank you for it as well as being careful." Saix nodded, in somewhat approval, "You may get your rest." as he opened up a corridor behind him and stepped backwards into it, before vanishing to another part of the castle.

At this comment, Axel chuckled. "Stop it. Your graditude creeps me out."

* * *

The next day, in Twilight Town...

"Grrr." Axel groaned as he was tired, though he was back to normal work with Roxas. "Would it kill him to give me a day off?" Axel grumbled to himself, "Graditude from that guy is like a poke in the eye." grouching the fact that Saix made him get back to work, and he had just returned from Castle Oblivion for crying out loud!

"You want a exiler?" Roxas offered, seeing the tired look on his friend's face. "It was on bargain, but..."

"Sure, why not." Axel thanked, as the kid gave him the bottle, only to read the label, and cringed. ' _It's past his expiration date_!'

Roxas in the meantime, didn't notice his friend's expression, but did notice more heartless appearing, and summoned his Keyblade, ready to fight. Axel, who had just finished his exiler, tossed the bottle and summoned his chakrams.

After they eliminated the Heartless, Roxas noticed the three kids again, and, remembering the promise he made to Xion, smiled as he gazed up at the sky, thinking, ' _Finally. The three of us can have ice cream together._ '

* * *

However, Xion, who was sent to Beast's Castle, fought as hard as she could as more Heartless kept on coming at her. However, she could only use her powers to drive them away, but now, everytime she tried to summon her Keyblade...it wouldn't come out.

"Why can't I summon the Keyblade?" She asked herself. Now she was deeply worried.

If she can't use the Keyblade, she can't collect hearts...

* * *

The next day, when Xion didn't turn up, and Roxas was being told by Saix on the rate of the collecting hearts, it made the blond grow to hate the blue-haired man who told him to collect more hearts and nothing else.

"What's his problem? Stupid Saix!" Roxas grunted at himself as he fought against the heartless, finding himself so angry that he didn't even notice just how many Heartless he was eliminating, so he was blindly destroying so many that Axel only managed to eliminate two. "Fine! I'll just beat up millions of Heartless! Then we'll see if he has any reason to complain!"

"Ha-ha! That's the spirit! Axel praised. He was really enjoying spending time with the kid more and more everyday, even ever since he got back from Castle Oblivion. Roxas was panting in both exhaustion and anger, but more anger and annoyance than anything else. It seemed like Roxas can be a curious kid, a determinated kid, but now it seems that he's starting to develop a short temper.

Roxas glanced up at the floating hearts, and wondered, "But that's weird. I thought I was going a good job. I wonder how Xion's doing?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back with Sora and his group...

They had made it to another land continant, and had arrived at a new world...the only problem is...how did they get here in the first place?

"Wonder how long we've been around here?" Sora couldn't help but ask, as he walked with Donald, Goofy and Namine, while Jiminy rode in his hood.

"All I remember is this strange flash of light while we were at sea..." Namine recalled vaguely.

"Yeah, and then we woke up in that here centre with the nice nurse." Goofy added.

"And it's been three weeks since we were found too." Donald added.

"Nothing seemed to happen to my Journal either." Jiminy stated, as he checked the said book, everything he's written through out the journey still there. "I hope nothing happened to us."

Namine shook her head, saying, "All of your memories are still intact, so that's a good sign."

"And we're all a-okay too. Ah-yhuck!" Goofy agreed.

Sora smiled and agreed, "Yeah. As long as we're okay, we can continue our journey in finding Riku and the King. For now, let's explore this place for a little bit and then see what we can do."

However, just as they took another step, suddenly the ground gave way underneath them and they all cried out in surprise as they fell into a pit-fall trap and landed at the deep hole, all over each other, and groaned at the unexpected experince.

"Ow...what happened?" Sora groaned.

"Garwsh, I think we fell into a trap." Goofy muttered, a bit worriedly.

"You sure did!" a voice from above ground said, sounding all smirking, causing everyone to look up quickly, to see a man with short purple-blue hair, a woman with long pink hair, and a strange looking cat that was standing on two legs, and a gold charm on it's forehead.

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Donald ranted on, getting into his temper tantrums again.

"Prepare for Trouble, in a deep hole," the woman began.

"Make it Double, not from a mole." the man added.

"To protect the world from Devastation."

"To unite all people's within our nation."

"To denounce the evil's with truths and love."

"To astand our reach from the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off in the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth; That's right!" the cat, named Meowth, concluded.

Sora, Donald, Goofy and Namine all looked blankly confused, and looked at each other, all shrugging. Even Jiminy couldn't figure out what this Team Rocket was talking about. Sora then asked Jessie the woman, James the man and Meowth, "Um, can you say that again?"

Team Rocket slumped, before they glared at the group and Jessie ranted, "Listen you spiky-haired twerp! Do you know who we are!?"

"You're bad guys!" Donald accussed. "But your dumb motto doesn't make any sense!"

For this reason, Jessie, James and Meowth were hurt by these words and crouched down, their backs to the group, and they muttered miserably, "That was just mean."

"Sorry, but uh, we don't have anything you'd want to steal from us." Goofy shrugged.

"Not even Pokemon?" Meowth asked.

Not knowing what a 'Pokemon' is, Sora shrugged, "We're looking for my best friend Riku and Donald and Goofy's friend Mickey, and we met Namine and decided to help her out too."

"Well, we haven't seen any 'Riku' or 'Mickey'." James shrugged, "They could be anywhere." only to be smacked on the head by Jessie who glared at him in annoyance while he was comically dazed.

"We're supposed to steal Pokemon, not give these kids some help!" Jessie scolded.

"Yeah, who's side you're on!" Meowth added.

Suddenly, because that Team Rocket were bad guys, that meant they were the perfect targets to the Heartless, because the said Heartless appeared all around them and hole Sora and his friends were in, alarming everyone, and Team Rocket, who were also cowardly, quickly clinged onto each other for dear life and shuddered and shivered in fear, as the heartless surrounded them.

"What are these things!?" James cried out.

"I don't wanna be around to find out!" Jessie screamed.

"They ain't Pokemon, d'at's for sure!" Meowth yelled.

"They're Heartless!" Donald exclaimed.

"Look out!" Sora warned.

Suddenly, a Thunder appeared out of nowhere, and not only it zapped the Heartless into oblivion, it also electricuted Team Rocket who yelped out comically, before there was a small explosion that caused them to be blown into the sky, screaming, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" and disappeared.

"They're...gone!" Goofy muttered.

"Who did that?" Donald asked.

Just then, a yellow looking mouse, a bit big for a normal mouse but smaller than King Mickey. This mouse had red round cheeks, pointy ears with black tips, brown stripes on it's back, and it's tail was shaped like a lightning bolt with a hint of brown at the bottom, and black eyes with white pupils. When it opened it's mouth, it said, "Pika?"

"Pika?" Sora blinked, confused. "What's a 'Pika'?"

"It's very cute." Namine thought.

"Pikachu!" a boy's voice called out, and the little mouse looked back to see a ten year old boy, a twelve year old girl and a sixteen year old boy rush over. The youngest boy looked into the hole, and noticed Sora and his friends, and asked, "Hey, are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're okay. Just need a way out of this hole those three weird guys put us in." Sora answered.

The boy wasn't surprised as he sighed, "Guess Team Rocket left empty handed again." as he and his companions helped Sora and the others out of the hole.

"Thanks." Sora nodded.

"That's okay, and you should really thank Pikachu for saving you guys from Team Rocket and those weird black things." the boy shrugged. To Donald and Goofy, this ten year old reminded them of Sora. He kinda looked like Sora too, except that his hair was black, he wore a red and white cap, a blue and white vest with a dark green shirt underneath, blue jeans with a belt that had six red and white small balls hanging, and black and white sneakers with red dots on it. He had dark black-brown eyes as well and green fingerless gloves.

The girl with him had orange-red hair with a short ponytail facing skyward, green-blue eyes, a yellow tank-top, blue shorts that was connected to red straps, red sneakers with yellow lightning strikes on it, and in her arms was an adorable little egg-like baby with a spiky head, adorable eyes, it's body of an egg with red and blue decorations, short stumpy arms and legs.

Lastly, the teenaged boy had dark brown spiky hair, his eyes seemed to be closed, an orange t-shirt with a green sleeveless vest, brown jeans with a belt that also had white and red balls, and navy-blue shoes with white laces, and he seemed to have his eyes on Namine who flinched. In fact, he approached her, his face all pink and red, and he gently took her hands into his own.

"Hi, I'm Brock, and I'm a Pokemon Breeder as well as a specialist in human relations." Brock, the older teen began, acting like he was in love, much to Namine's confusion, and Sora's hint of jealousy, Goofy's puzzlement, Jiminy's confusion and Donald's annoyance. It also annoyed Brock's friends too, though. "It's such a relief that young beautiful girl like yourself isn't hurt by those dreaded monsters. Perhaps it was fate that you and I were ment to be toge-AGH!"

He was suddenly cut off when the red-haired girl tugged him hard on the ear and pulled him away, as she scolded him, "Let's get going before you hurt somebody or yourself." while he grunted in pain.

"He's weird." Sora admitted.

"Brock's like this whenever he meets a girl." the youngest boy explained while placing his hands on his hips.

"Garwsh, he doesn't seem to be shy in meetin' them. Cus' Sora's kinda shy when it comes to girls." Goofy thought, causing Sora to blush at this.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Sora protested, which caused Namine to giggle at the teen's expression, making him blush even darker.

The ten year old boy was confused, and thought, "I don't get what the idea of girls is. I mean, sure they're different compared to guys, especially when you're travelling with Misty."

"What was that, Ash Ketchum!?" Misty, the girl in question who was still holding Brock's ear, glared at the boy who is Ash Ketchum, or Ash, and who cringed back scaredly, and he muttered, "Uh...nothing." which also scared Sora, Goofy and especially Donald who thought to himself, ' _She's like Daisy!_ '

"Whoa, no offence, but she has a temper like Donald." Sora admitted, which Misty's glare deepened, and Donald glared at him as well, which was a comical scene. "But anyway, at least everyone's safe for now. Anyway, I'm Sora." he introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Ash, from Pallet Town." Ash introduced himself, then gestured at the yellow mouse who climbed onto his shoulders, "And this is my partner, Pikachu."

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu said, waving happily at the group.

"Donald Duck." Donald introduced himself.

"Name's Goofy." Goofy added.

"My name is Namine." Namine added.

"My name's Misty." Misty introduced herself, then gestured at the little baby she continued to hold in her left arm, "And this is Togepi."

"Togi, Togi, pree!" Togepi said happily.

Namine smiled at the little baby and said, "Even Togepi is very cute, like Pikachu." which Pikachu heard and blushed in slight in embarrassment at the white-blonde haired girl's comment.

"Anyway, was it Pikachu that gave out the Thunder or something?" Sora then asked, which confused Ash and his group.

Ash then responded, "You mean Thunderbolt? Yeah, it was Pikachu. You know, Pikachu's an electric type Pokemon."

' _Oh, so that's what Team Rocket talked about. Wait, did mean that Meowth and Togepi are Pokemon too?_ ' Sora thought to himself.

"Gawrsh, Pikachu's Thunderbolt sure was powerful." Goofy admitted.

"Aw phooey!" Donald on the other hand said. "I can do a whole lot better!"

This seemed to be an insult, though, because Pikachu looked annoyed, and without Ash's permission, casted Thundershock which zapped Donald who screamed before it stopped and he was slightly churred black comically. Seeing this made Sora, Goofy and Namine laugh, and Ash couldn't help but join in, while Misty and Brock looked at the poor white duck who collasped to the ground, before he sat up and huffed while crossing his arms.

"Aw nuts." Donald grumbled.

* * *

Back with Roxas...

After not seeing Xion again today, Roxas was getting worried, as he and Axel returned to the Castle after another mission, and were in the halls of their rooms.

"I guess Xion didn't come to the Clock Tower today." Roxas thought.

"Hey," Axel spoke up, "I'm gonna hit the showers. I'm all sweaty and gross."

"Okay, I'll go get us some clean clothes." Roxas replied, heading to his room while Axel went to his, and both made way to the bathroom to clean themselves up after a hard day.

Just after they left, Xion approached Roxas's room, and, she was disappointed that she couldn't see him. 'Maybe it's best that I don't see him.' she thought as she sadly walked away. She still couldn't summon her Keyblade and she had no idea why.

This was not good news at all.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't think this story is going along how I wanted, but I'll will try to do harder next time in the next chapter and maybe make them shorter as writing long chapters is difficult to fill in.**

 **Please continue your reviews, fellow readers, and I'll see you again as soon as possible. I've added Pokemon as a world for this story 'cuz I wanted to.**


	6. Chapter 6: Birth of the Sea-Salt Trio

**Author's note: I do not own the rights of Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to both Disney and Square Enix. At this point on, the chapters will be shorter, but the story will not be short in total, I will make sure of that.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter six: Birth of the Sea-Salt Trio.**_

Next morning...well, next midday really, considering how Axel slept in like a log while everyone else got up earlier, the pyro walked into the lounge area, stretching his arms up while giving out a loud and tired yawn, greeting, "Mornin'..." before catching sight of Roxas who strangely was looking around. Axel's never seen anyone in the Organization looking...worried like Roxas before. This was a bit of a surprise to the redhead.

"Axel," Roxas began as he noticed his friend, "Have you seen Xion?"

"Nope." Axel replied, before going over to the couch and made himself comfortable, adding, "Maybe she's still in bed."

Roxas looked at the clock, and pointed out, "But it's past noon."

Realising that the kid had a point, even though in his mind, Axel thought, ' _I just woke up, ya know..._ ' while he just said, "...Yeah." not borthing to hide the sarcasm.

"I've been here since all morning, Kupo." The Moogle added to get his costumers' attentions, adding, "But I haven't seen her at all."

"What?" Roxas asked in disbelief. "Then, where is she?"

Axel shrugged, "Maybe she got up much earlier than everyone else." though that seemed unlikely. He hasn't even properly met Xion yet.

Unfortunately, Saix came into the room, and while he answered Roxas's question on where Xion was, which she was in Twilight Town on her mission to eliminate a giant Heartless, he also simply told Roxas to use his energy of worry for collecting Hearts instead, which the blond, still annoyed and hating Saix more everyday, angrily opened a corridor and raced in, finding the blue-haired man impaitence.

Axel seemed to think so too, while Saix glared at him, telling him to stop spoiling him before walking off. The redhead shook his head. Geez, the blue-haired man didn't seem to realise that Roxas was still new, but then again, he was hard on everyone else and everyone reacted to him differently.

In total, Axel didn't voice it, but Saix was a jerk.

* * *

" _"Collect Hearts. Collect Hearts."_ Shut up, Saix!" Roxas ranted as he destoryed as many Heartless as possible. Roxas used this anger to eliminate the Heartless and collect hearts quicker than usual, considering how many of them he was collecting, but even collecting like, what, a hundred now wasn't enough in Saix's eyes.

What did he want, a million!?

* * *

After the mission, Roxas returned to the clock tower, expecting Xion, but again, she wasn't there. Did something happen to her? Suddenly, a corridor opened up, and Roxas turned, half-hoping it was Xion, but was disappointed when he saw that was Axel who greeted, "Hey."

"Oh, it's you, Axel." Roxas sighed.

Half-annoyed by this greeting, Axel replied in strong sarcasm, " _N_ i _c_ e t _o_ s _e_ e y _o_ u _t_ o _o_." before sitting down next to the blond's right, asking, "Xion not coming today either?"

"No, and her mission was here. I thought she would come." Roxas replied, before having his hands over his eyes to block the sun's light as he squitted his eyes to see if he could make his vision go closer like a megaglass(or whatever the hell it's called), wondering, "Maybe I can see her from here."

Seeing this made Axel snicker, and he asked, trying not to laugh, "Want me to bring you a telescope?" still amazed on how much this kid can make him smile, something that he hasn't done in years, well, smiling like this in amusement like he had a heart when he was a human.

Still, he followed Roxas's direction, only for both of them to blink in surprise when they saw somewhat a flash exploding in the thick trees of the forest outside the town's walls. "Do you think it's Xion?" Roxas exclaimed.

"She's sure displaying huge fireworks." Axel thought, having his right hand over his eyes to prevent himself from getting blind from the sun. Even he was stunned at what was going on.

"You think she's okay?" Roxas asked.

"Hmmm..." Axel thought, unaware that Roxas was having a bad gut feeling that Xion could be in danger. It didn't help when Axel added, "For one thing...she might be having trouble."

Unable to stand the thought of Xion having trouble, Roxas quickly stood up and declared, "I'm gonna go check!" teleporting himself through a corridor of darkness.

"Hey, Roxas!" Axel protested as he stood up as well, but he was too late. Sighing, he placed his hands on his hips and looked skyward, grumbling, "For cryin' out loud." wondering if he was this bad when he was Roxas's age...pyschically, anyway.

* * *

Roxas in the meantime, appeared in the woods, near an old mansion. As he looked around for any signs of Xion, he spotted her familiar figure and black hair, and he rushed over to her, seeing how exhausted she looked.

"Xion! Are you alright?" Roxas called out. As Xion was surprised to see him, he said to her, "Do you need and Exilir?"

However, Xion saw something behind him and gasped, "Roxas, look out!"

But it was too late, as a giant Lizard-Heartless stomped it's foot on top of Roxas, pinning him to the ground. Xion tried to use her powers, but she was weakened and collasped to the ground, falling into unconsciousness. The Heartless was about to finish off the two when it suddenly screamed out in agony as it was being pinned and stabbed on the back by a Chakram, causing it to let go of Roxas.

Axel, who had also arrived, scooped up the two youngest Nobodies while glaring at the Heartless before jumping out of the way to a safe distance but not too far from the Heartless, before dropping the two onto the ground, saying to the blond-haired boy, "Get up, Roxas!"

Hearing Axel's voice, Roxas jolted up, looking like a mess and half-dizzy(anime style), exclaiming, "Axel!?"

"You're supposed to be saving her butt, not getting yours kicked!" Axel scolded, while mentally finding himself strangely relieved that Roxas was okay. The other Nobody, who he now knew was Xion, was still out-cold but she was still alive. He was surprised that she looked like Kairi and Namine, but decided to worry about that later.

"Xion?" Roxas cried out, seeing the girl's unconscious form.

"She's okay, just lost consciousness." Axel assured, before turning to see that that giand Lizard-Heartless was groggly getting back up, and it was a tough but goofy-looking one, as he added, "We have to take out this guy first!" referring to the Heartless.

Roxas nodded in agreement, and as he stood up and summoned his Keyblade, he muttered, "Time for some Heart collecting!" while Axel resummoned his Chakrams in silent agreement.

Both charged at both sides of the Heartless who didn't stand a chance after this. Once Roxas and Axel arrived, it was screwed. It was completely destroyed and the heart floated up all the way to the Organization's growing Kingdom Hearts. Once they knew that they completed their 'unofficial' mission, Roxas rushed over to Xion and helped her up once she regained consciousness.

"You okay, Xion?" Roxas asked, handing her a exilir to help her recover.

"R-Roxas?" Xion asked, still groggly herself.

"The Exilir was a bargain, but..." Roxas began.

Seeing Xion's confusion, Axel, standing behind Roxas, said, "Don't worry. We took care of the Heartless." having a bit of dirt on himself like the other two.

Xion, seeing Axel for the very first time, but not yet knowing he's the same person Roxas is friends with, asked the blond-haired Nobody, "Who's he?"

"Oh!" Roxas remembered, "Xion, this is Axel. My friend I told you about."

"Got it memorized?" Axel added, saying his catch-phrase while tapping the side of his head. He then suggested, "Why don't we go and get recovered and then have some ice cream?"

* * *

Half an hour later finds the trio back at the Clock Tower after buying ice cream, and Roxas sat in the middle of his two friends, for he was now happy that both of his friends and himself were finally having ice cream together, just like he promised Xion. Axel, who knew that he would get used to Xion's company, was still skeptically curious of the girl. She seemed sweet, though.

However, as the two boys ate their ice cream, Xion, who still couldn't summon her Keyblade, looked saddened as she gazed down below, not even noticing that her ice cream was melting. Roxas and Axel both noticed this and side-glanced at her in confusion.

"Eat up. It's gonna melt." Roxas told Xion who just nodded.

Seeing Xion's sad expression and lack of eating the ice cream, Axel couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? I thought you'd wolf it down."

"Did something happen?" Roxas added.

"We're here for you if you want to get it off your chest." Axel assured Xion, then looked at Roxas for an agreement, "Right, Roxas?"

Roxas nodded, "He's right. That's what friends are for."

Despite the support of her two new friends, Xion still felt a twinge of fear and guilt in her chest, as she openedly admitted, "I can't... I can't use the Keyblade anymore." shocking Roxas and Axel, as she continued, "And without the Keyblade, I'm useless."

After Xion told them on how all of the sudden she couldn't use the Keyblade and how she can't collect hearts, she was on the verge of crying, which was also unusual for Nobodies as far as Axel knew. Even so, even he wasn't immune to a sad girl, and it made him feel uncomfortable. If anyone else in the Organization found out, it would be the first time a member would literally turn into a Dusk. The very thought of that made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

"Is there anything we could do?" Roxas asked to Axel, for some support.

"I wish there was, but there's nothing we ca-" Axel cuts himself off as an idea formed in his head. His face brightened suddenly and he muttered, "Hold on...I have an idea."

Roxas and Xion both looked at him, both feeling hope growing inside their chests.

* * *

Despite Saix's supicions, and how Roxas had mentioned "Motivation" and Axel adding to it that would mean collecting more hearts than usual, putting "Two Half-Pints together and you get a whole", Roxas and Xion were both assigned on missions together, until Xion secretly regained her ability to wield her Keyblade. That was Axel's idea-for Roxas to work double-duty which the blond was more than determinded to do so.

When the two of them returned from their mission, Axel made sure they were alone and the three of them were together.

"Thanks, Axel. This was a great idea." Roxas smiled, and Xion nodded in agreement.

"No problem." Axel smirked, then cautioned to Roxas, "But you do realise you have to do Xion's job too, right?"

Roxas shook his head, saying, "No. I have to do more than that! So that way Saix won't have any reason to complain!" which made Axel smile in surprise and approvement.

"I'm sorry for making you do all this." Xion sighed, feeling guilty again.

"That's okay! Leave it to me!" Roxas stated.

"Yeah," Axel replied, as he ruffled Xion's hair, adding, "Friends help each other out in their time in need. Right, Roxas?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded, and he and Xion held hands, making her smile along with her two friends whom she began to get close to.

"Thank you, Roxas, Axel." Xion said, now really smiling. Having friends was a great thing after all.

* * *

 _Back with Sora and his group...back when they first encountered Ash and his friends..._

"The Heartless...?" Ash asked, as Sora and the others explained about the Heartless to him, Misty, Brock and Pikachu, while little Togepi, being a baby Pokemon, didn't understand any of this. After witnessing those strange black things and that how it was kind of best that Ash and his friends knew about their mission, and had to have them keep this a secret.

"Yeah, they go after people's hearts." Sora explained, "They're very dangerous."

"And if they get your heart, you'd turn into a heartless too." Goofy added, still spooked on the experience he'd heard from Sora.

Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all paled at this, and each of them held a hand to their chest, as if wanting to protect their own hearts. Brock was shivering and he muttered scaredly, "That gives me the goosebumps."

"I don't wanna turn into a heartless." Ash agreed.

"It sounds just as bad as Bug-Type Pokemon, and those Heartless looked like giant bugs too!" Misty exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Namine asked at Misty's comment. "Some insects are harmless."

"Yeah, what's so bad about them?" Donald added.

Ash then leaned over to Sora's group and whispered, "Misty's afraid of Bug-Pokemon."

At first confused, then they understood and Sora tried not to laugh, while Goofy said in understanding, "Oh, right. Ah-hyuck. Misty has Bug-Phobia. That's okay, everybody's really scared of somethin'. But I still think that Donald can be a chicken most times."

At this response, Donald whacked Goofy's leg with his hand, causing the latter to jump and hop while holding his sore knee, yelling out in pain comically. "What was that for? That really hurt!" Goofy cried out.

"Who're you callin' a chicken!?" Donald exclaimed angrily.

"It's kinda true." Sora muttered, "On the other hand, I guess Misty's a chicken when it comes to insects." only for Misty to stomp towards him and she stamped her foot hard on his foot and he cried out in pain, comically.

"Who're you calling a chicken?" Misty repeated, growling. Namine giggled at Sora and Goofy's reactions, while Ash, Pikachu and Brock all sighed in exasperation. To them, having Donald around was like having an extra Misty.

"Did I say chicken?" Sora asked, before saying apologetically to the red-haired girl, "I uh, must've meant that you're an expert when it comes to insects." while mentally grumbling, ' _Man. What is it with girls?_ '

* * *

After explaining almost everything, Ash and his friends agreed to keep it a secret, and decided to help Sora, Donald, Goofy and Namine to see if there was a way off their world so that they could continue their search for Riku and King Mickey, while showing them the world of humans and Pokemon, telling them about how their world works, and how Ash dreams of becoming a Pokemon Master and loves exploring.

Just then, Pikachu sensed something and looked to it's left, causing everyone else to follow the small Pokemon's gaze, with Ash asking, "You see something, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed.

Sora noticed something, and blinked as an bigger than normal-sized green and cute looking caterpiller with black eyes and a pink attena crawled out, along with more of them. "Wow. These guys are cute." he admitted, smiling, bending lowering to get a closer look and one smiled at him in retur before rejoining it's friends.

"Wow, a bunch of Caterpie." Brock thought.

"Cute little fellas." Donald thought, as one approached him and he patted it on the head, and he smiled happily as it happily nodded it's head, liking him and he laughed.

"And friendly too. Ay-hyuck!" Goofy added as another Caterpie crawled onto his shoulder, before it and the Caterpie Donald was patting rejoined their friends. Namine was saying hello to one who liked her as well, before saying goodbye and it rejoined it's friends too.

Ash, remembering his Butterfree, couldn't resist and said, "I haven't caught a Caterpie in a long time." and was about to rush over to catch one, when Misty, who was the only one who lothed the cute Pokemon, pulled him by the collar and pulled him away to the opposite direction.

"Yeah, and you're not gonna start now!" Misty declared.

"Just one little Caterpie?" Ash pleaded like a small child over a mother for a piece of candy.

"Unbelievable..." Sora muttered, unable to believe that Misty's even afraid of an adorable Caterpie, just as the bushes in the direction Misty was heading to moved, and he and the others realised it was danger.

"Look out, Misty! Somethin's in the bushes in front of ya!" Goofy cried out, alarmed.

"Well, as long it's not a Caterpie or a Heartless, who cares?" Misty responded, only for an angry looking Pinsir to come out and growl. Seeing this, Misty comically chuckled nervously, before screaming in pure fear, and run right back to the others, practically swinging Ash behind her as she cried out, "A Pinsir's even worse than a Caterpie!" leaving a trail of dust behind.

"She is scared of insects." Namine thought.

"She's starting to freak me out." Sora admitted, about Misty's reactions.

* * *

A bit later, after calming Misty down, the group continued on their way, and, they were seeing more Pokemon, and were having conversations, and Sora and Ash seemed to be getting along well, while Namine played with Pikachu and Togepi, Donald telling Misty jokes which made her laugh, and Brock and Goofy both having a nice understanding and friendly conversations.

However, just as they entered a clearing of the forest, and were nearing a town, in front of them, was a very large figure who was looking for something, his back to the group who looked at each other, before approaching the figure before stopping ten feet away from him.

"Hey, so what's going on?" Ash asked to the figure.

The figure cackled and he answered, "I've just sent some of my lackies to search for this here forest, to see if the li'l pink fella is as strong as they say. Word is, it's a legendary and powerful Pokemon. Which makes it a perfect shield for me." and what he said next shocked the group, "See, once it turns into a Heartless, it'll do as I say."

"Did you just say a Heartless!?" Misty demanded, finding herself angered and disgusted.

"That's right. They're those things that come out in folk's , with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything!" The figure continued, which now confused the group, which also stunned Sora, Donald, Goofy and Namine.

"Who's Maleficent?" Ash asked.

"Someone who we had to fight and had used Riku to kidnap Kairi and six Princessses." Sora briefly explained.

"And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' 'round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her." The figure continued, ignoring the others, before mentally smacking himself for giving out too much detail, and that he was speaking to people smaller than him, and without turning around, scolded them rudely, "Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is."

"Uh, you might want to find something nicer to do." Brock suggested.

"Yeah, turning people and Pokemon into heartless is not very nice." Ash added. "In fact, it's disgusting!"

"Yeah, go find something else to do! You can't force anyone to turn into Heartless and control them!" Misty added, not hiding her anger.

"Says who?" the figure demanded as he finally turned around, but then gapped in shock as his gazed turned to Donald and Goofy, and exclaimed, "Wha...AAAH! It's you!"

"PETE!?" Donald and Goofy both exclaimed in shock and disbelief, recongising the villian they and Mickey fought against for a long time before Pete's banishment. They thought they'd never see him again.

"Pete?" Ash, Misty, Brock and Namine repeated in confusion, while Sora just stared, blinking, along with Pikachu, and Togepi.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"Togi?" Togepi added.

Pete wasn't too happy to see two of his enemies again, and demanded in anger, "What are you two nimrods doin' here!?"

"What are YOU doin' here!?" Donald demanded back in equal anger and more annoyance.

"So you know him?" Sora asked to Goofy who nodded.

"We sure do," Goofy began, now more confused than ever, "Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! Her Majesty, Queen Minnie, banished him to another Dimension a long time ago."

Ash crossed his arms and admitted, "Sounds like a big, fat, single version of Team Rocket. I wish we could send those guys to another dimension."

"But if he was banished to another dimension, how come he's still here?" Brock asked.

"I'm wonderin' about that too." Goofy shrugged, just as clueless.

Hearing this made Pete laugh evilly, and he answered to the little bunch of squirts confusion, "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how!" before going on, "Now, your world-no, no no, ALL the worlds, are gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em!"

"Maleficent...huh." Sora thought, before bursting into laughter with Donald, Goofy and Namine, all of them knowing that it was an impossible task since they already defeated Maleficent back at Hollow Bastion. Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock all looked at each other, shrugging in confusion at the moment.

"What are you laughing at!?" Pete demanded, not realising on what actually happened, "Why, Maleficent's power is so great that-"

"She's toast!" Sora giggled, referring that Maleficent was gone, much to Pete's astonded and disbelieved shock.

"Huh!?" Pete exclaimed.

Realising what Sora meant, Ash then tried to laugh, while saying, "Oh, I get it. She's not around anymore, is she?" laughing at the fact that Pete cluelessly didn't even know of Maleficent's untimely demise. Misty and Brock also caught on and they and Pikachu all tried not to laugh either.

"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now." Goofy shrugged while trying to hold in his own laughter.

"Whaddaya mean!?" Pete asked, as Donald snickered and Namine giggled. He then finally caught on and pointed at them accusing and in anger, "YOU! So you're the ones that did it!" pointing at all of them.

"Hey, don't look at us." Ash shrugged, referring to himself, Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Togepi, "We're just Pokemon Trainers."

"And we mighta had something to do with it." Sora admitted, grinning as he placed his hands behind his head.

Pete growled in anger, but held in most of it to control it. But just as he was about to command the Heartless to attack, suddenly, a net appeared out of nowhere and caught something, much to everyone's shock. To their left, was Team Rocket who returned.

"You guys again!?" Sora asked, in annoyed disbelief.

"Not you again!" Ash growled. "It's already bad enough that we have a fat bad guy here!"

Jessie ignored Ash's comment and laughed evilly, "That was easy!"

"Too easy!" James agreed.

"Team Rocket just snagged Pikachu!" Meowth said happily, only for him and his two companions to see Pikachu standing next to Ash, the yellow Pokemon muttering, "Pika?"

"Pika?" James asked, shocked and dumbfounded.

"What did we catch?" Jessie asked, only for her, James and Meowth to find that they accidently caught Pete in their net, and he was cramped inside it on the ground, clearly not happy.

At the most ridiculous sight, Sora, Namine, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock tried not to laugh, but in the end, bursted into hysterical laughter, unable to help themselves.

They laughed so hard that Pikachu accidently unleashes a Thunderbolt attack which not only zapped Team Rocket, but it also zapped Pete as the four villians all were comically electrocuted, before a small explosion caused them to be blasted off into the air.

"You big fat idiot! You got in our way!" Jessie yelled at Pete.

"YOU'RE the ones who got in MY way!" Pete argued, before glaring down at the group below and yelled out, "You'll pay for this, you little squirts!"

"We lost our chance to get Pikachu." Meowth groaned.

James nodded in agreement, "And we're stuck with this big dummy."

"Who're you callin' a dummy!?" Pete demanded.

"If you don't shut up, I'm gonna take off your head!" Jessie growled.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" Jessie, James and Meowth screamed out.

"...What did ya's say?" Pete asked, as he and Team Rocket disappeared in the sky-Team Rocket style.

"That was easy." Sora admitted as he and his friends watched the bad guys go.

"Way to go, Pikachu." Ash praised to his Pokemon who thanked him happily, climbing back onto his shoulder.

"Sora, look!" Namine suddenly pipped up, pointing at a rock in front of them. The others followed her gaze, and were all stunned to see a Keyhole encrusted in it.

"A Keyhole?" Ash asked.

"If it weren't for Team Rocket, Pete would've driven this world into Darkness." Sora thought. "I'd better seal it before the Heartless come back." summoning his Keyblade, much to the trainers' amazement. He pointed the Keyblade at the keyhole, and the beam of light shot out of it and into the Keyhole, closing it up, causing it to vanish and protected this world from the darkness.

Ash and his friends were stunned, and he muttered, "Whoa...that was awesome." referring to the power of Sora's Keyblade. "I wish I had one of those."

"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless!" Donald grumbled, "Things haven't changed one bit!"

"I guess it's a good thing we're on the job then." Goofy thought.

"So...the worlds really aren't at peace." Sora thought, thinking back to what Namine mentioned.

Namine sighed, and muttered, "Maybe there's someone else who's causing more trouble with the Heartless...and maybe with the Nobodies." feeling a little scared.

"Not that I have any idea on what's reall going on, but I sure wish there was something I could do to help." Ash thought.

"Hey, why don't we head over to town and figure things out there?" Misty suggested.

The others thought it was a good idea and continued on towards the town in hopes in finding answers as well as finding a new transport in getting to other worlds to continue the search to find Riku and King Mickey and once again probably protect the worlds from the Heartless.

* * *

 **A/N: Please continue your amazing reviews, fellow readers, and do look forward to the chapter as we catch up to Riku, King Mickey and Aqua next time, as well as the Sea-Salt trio, and a danger that would change everything for the Organization...and put an end to Xehanort's plots forever.**


	7. Chapter 7: New determination

**Author's note: I just discovered that BEFORE Kingdom Hearts 3 will be out(again), there's another one that is a prologue to it, titled, "Kingdom Hearts 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue" coming out next year in 2016, meaning that KH3 is silently confirmed to be released sometime in 2017.**

 **Okay. Let's continue with the story. I don't own anything.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter seven: New determination.**_

Back with Riku, King Mickey and Aqua...

"Do you think Aqua will be okay?" Riku asked worriedly as he sat on the ground next to Mickey who looked equally worried. "She's been gone for an hour." The teen continued. Both of them sat near the campfire they made, and the sun had long set, the moon and the stars replacing it until morning. The experience at Castle Oblivion and Terra's sacrifice to save them and Aqua left all three of them shaken.

"I-I'm not sure." Mickey admitted. "Aqua's had it harder since ten years ago. Both her best friends, Terra and Ventus, were involved in something horrible that caused them and Aqua to fall into terrible situations. Ven's heart vanished somewhere, Terra disappeared up 'til now, and Aqua somehow got trapped in the Realm of Darkness."

The King shifted uncomfortably, his bottom lip quivered, guilt starting to rise in his chest, and he sniffled to prevent himself from crying, as he continued, "I couldn't do anything to save them that day. I never met Terra until now, but I guess he suddenly became my friend because he was both Aqua and Ven's friend. Ven was kinda like me and we had a lot in common, and Aqua and I teamed up to save a little girl, and again to try and save Ven."

"Sounds like the worlds were in danger back then too, huh?" Riku thought, "And I was only five years old at the time. Sora and Kairi were both four."

Mickey nodded, "Yeah, and that was because of an evil Keyblade wielder named Xehanort." shivering at the memories of his past, "I was training at the time when he caused trouble to the worlds, and, well, I ran off after I discovered that they were in danger without tellin' my master, Yen Sid. But Xehanort caught me off-guard, and he was just too powerful. I couldn't stop him, and I think it was Terra who managed to beat him for good. Xehanort wanted to take Kingdom Hearts for himself."

"Just like what Ansem tried to do." Riku thought, shocked.

"Actually...that wasn't Ansem." Mickey admitted.

"Huh?" Riku was now confused.

Mickey sighed, before explaining, "Well, the man that Sora, Donald and Goofy defeated was the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts, but you see, he wasn't really Ansem-He just went around tellin' everybody that he was. He stole the name of Ansem from the real one-Ansem the Wise. I knew the moment I've heard about him and briefly saw him."

"Why would he do that?"

"Gosh...I don't know." Mickey sighed, "The real Ansem disappeared, but I'm pretty sure he knew who the fake Ansem was..." before thinking deeply, "Hmm, I feel like I've met him before, but I can't remember where or when." shaking his head in defeat.

"The fake Ansem is gone, though." Riku recalled. "It's that DiZ guy now we have to worry about."

Mickey nodded in agreement, "And he certainly doesn't like those fellas in the black coats. They must be up to somethin' too, 'specially since Marluxia was actin'."

Both of them fell into another silence, staring at either the fire or at the starry sky, and Aqua still wasn't back, making them deeply worried even further. Both of them looked at each other, thinking of the same thing and nodded, standing up, and walked down the path to where Aqua had gone to.

* * *

Aqua had settled down, but she was still feeling guilt and sorrow in her heart. She continued to stand there, having brought out her Good-Luck Charm and held it close to her heart, sorrowed that she failed to save Terra, and had no idea where Ven's heart was. Even if he would finally wake up, Ven would be so heart broken to learn of Terra's sacrifice.

"Aqua!" hearing her name being called, the blue-haired woman turned to see Mickey and Riku approaching her.

"Mickey. Riku?" Aqua blinked, "What's wrong?"

"We got worried since you didn't come back to camp." Riku answered.

"Are you okay?" Mickey asked.

The female Keyblade Master, or, rather, formal Keyblade Master now that she no longer wanted that title, nodded, and replied, "I'll be okay...I'm sorry to worry both of you. Let's head back. Probably a sleep is what we need anyway." walking past the other two who looked at each other worriedly. She wasn't fine. She was still aching for Terra's sacrifice.

Even so, they followed her back to camp, and all layed down on the ground to catch up on some sleep. Riku, looking at the sky before falling asleep, he thought, ' _Sora...I hope you're taking care of Kairi...One day...I'll come home._ ' before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 _...Hear...Feel...Think..._

* * *

Three weeks later...

"...Hey! I think he's waking up too!"

Huh? Where'd that voice come from? Riku stirred, his eyes flickering, before slowly opening, but instead of the blue morning sky he was expecting, Riku found himself staring at a ceiling of a room, and to make matters more confusing, he was lying on his back on...a bed? In alarm, he jolted up into sitting position, startling not only Aqua and Mickey, but also people he wasn't familiar with, whom were friends of Sora; Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Merlin and even Cloud who was startled himself.

It was Yuffie who had spoken.

"Riku, are you okay?" Mickey asked, worried.

"Wha-where am I?" Riku asked, blinking in confusion. "How'd we get here?"

"We were kinda hopin' that you guys would tell us." Yuffie spoke up, "You guys just appeared out of nowhere in a flash of light or whatever, all unconscious. So, Leon, Aerith, Cloud, Cid and I brought you guys here to Merlin's house."

"Appeared here, unconscious?" Aqua asked, confused herself. "I don't even remember moving from our campsite. I do remember seeing a flash of light, but other than that, I don't know."

"Me neither." Mickey shook his head, "Gosh, how long have we been out cold?"

"For three weeks." Leon shrugged, "We were worried that you three wouldn't wake up."

"Three weeks!?" Mickey, Aqua and Riku all exclaimed in shock. They looked at each other, before looking back at Leon's group, and Riku asked, "So, where are we?"

"Hollow Bastion, kid." Cid was the one to answer.

Hearing the name made Riku cringe, and he grumbled, "The very place where I first appeared."

* * *

After through many explainations, and introductions, it was decided that, since the walls of the Worlds have reappeared, Aqua, Mickey and Riku were welcome to stay in the town near the castle that was in the progress of being rebuilt. They spend that time to explore the town which was new to Riku, but somehow familiar to both Mickey and Aqua.

However, just as they entered a Bailey, heartless appeared out of nowhere in front of them, and Aqua, Mickey and Riku, while alarmed, all quickly summoned their weapons, and fought against the Heartless.

Mickey once again preformed an air-cartwheels, hitting and destroying the Heartless with his Keyblade, before dodging another one and whacked it with a side-slash combo.

Aqua casted Fire on a large-belly Heartless before whacking and smacking it, eliminating it as a result.

Riku swiped at as many Heartless as he could. He stabbed-dashed at two Heartless, before rolling out of the way to avoid another one, before leaping into the air and slashed at it at the right.

However, three more appeared behind them, and when they turned around and prepared to continue the fighting, all of the sudden, Cloud, with a large sword covered in bandages, came jumping down and slashed at all three heartless one by one. He then twirled his sword in the air a few times before resting it behind his back, attaching it to the attaching hook on his clothes.

"Is everyone alright?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah." Riku replied, as he, Aqua and Mickey dismissed their weapons. "Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it." was Cloud's simple reply. He turned to walk away, but stopped when Aqua called out his name, "Wait, Cloud."

The blue-haired woman then continued, "I sense that your heart is in turmoil. Did you allow Darkness in your heart?"

A bit shocked that the girl caught on quickly, Cloud nodded, admitting, "I tried to exploy the power of darkness in one world I was at, but it backfired. I was tricked by someone who promised to help me find someone I'm looking for."

' _Just like how Maleficent tricked me into fighting Sora and saving Kairi, only to use me._ ' Riku thought, reminising the fact that he and Cloud had a lot in common.

"Gosh, Cloud." Mickey thought, "Sounds like you're lookin' for somebody will important to you." feeling sorry for the blond-spiky-haired man who turned around, a bit suprised as he faced all three of them.

"You do kind of remind me of someone I met." Aqua thought, "When he had to be saved from the darkness. Zack had the same determination that you have, Cloud."

"You know Zack?" Cloud asked, surprised.

While Riku and Mickey looked at Aqua in confusion, the woman shrugged, saying while blushing a bit, "I met him. He reminded me of one of my best friends, and well, he asked me out for a date, but I couldn't keep that promise." blushing harder in embarrassment.

Cloud smirked a bit, admitting, "Yeah, that's Zack alright. He was a ladies man." before sighing, "He was also my best friend. Always cheerful."

"Just like how Sora and I are best friends." Riku thought, "I guess we do have a lot in common, because I was in a similiar situation as you, Cloud."

While surprised that Riku was just like him, Cloud closed his eyes, and muttered, mostly to himself, "Are sins...ever forgiven?"

All of them remained silent, until Aqua thought hard and realised that not once, has see ever forgiven herself either, especially since what happened. This she admitted, "I haven't tried yet."

"You mean...Haven't tried...?" Cloud repeated.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to forgive ourselves." Mickey thought, causing the others to look at him, as he shrugged and admitted, "Gosh, I don't think I've forgiven myself either, but that never stopped me from tryin' my best to do what's right and try to protect my friends. Maybe now would be the time to try."

"You know..." Riku thought, then he nodded and continued, "You're right, Your Majesty."

Even Aqua nodded in agreement, "I agree."

"So do I." Cloud concluded. He turned again to leave, saying one more time, "I'll meet you guys later. Thanks, and if you see Sora, give him my thanks too." as he walked away, leaving the others stunned.

Riku then shook his head and sighed, "Just like Sora; making new friends in everyone."

"We were given a second chance." Aqua thought, now smiling. "Better not waste it."

"Right, and when we find a way to stop DiZ, we can help Riku get back home and then find a way to save Terra and Ven." Mickey added, "But first, we need a way to travel across worlds to make sure they stay safe."

"Your Majesty," Riku began, "Thanks. If it weren't for you, I never would've made it this far."

The King blushed, "Gosh, Riku. You know ya don't have to call me that now. We're all pals." with Aqua nodding in agreement.

Understanding and glad to have the King for a friend, Riku agreed, "Fair enough, Mickey."

* * *

After exploring more of the larger area of Hollow Bastion, Leon informed the group of a computer room found within the castle, and a secret tunnel he found earlier via guessing the password, and when he mentioned that he found an armor and a Keyblade, Aqua decided to go and investigate. Mickey and Riku joined her and went through the secret passage, passing through a corridor and came across a door at the end.

Opening it, the trio found a creepy small room with a single chair in the middle that reminded Aqua of the single throne in the Chamber of Awaking where Ven still slept, hidden, and at the other side of the room, she gasped and rushed over to a familiar armor and a familiar Keyblade.

"What is it?" Riku asked, as he and Mickey joined her.

Touching her Keyblade on the ground, Aqua re-connected with it, and the armor vanished in light, which then covered Aqua's body, before it vanished into her armor-pad on her arm. She stood up, answering, "This is my Keyblade, and my armor. I had to discard it to save Terra before the portal back to the Realm of Light closed. It was the only thing I could do." Remembering that day.

"So that's how you ended up in the Realm of Darkness." Mickey thought, feeling his stomach turn badly, as he had a bad feeling about what else happened to Terra that day and felt that he didn't want to know why Terra was falling into darkness.

"Xehanort..." Aqua began, uncomfortably, "He took over Terra's body after the final battle in the Keyblade Graveyard. I fought against him, but then Xehanort stabbed himself and Terra, which also created the portal to the Dark Realm. I jumped in without second thoughts to save him, in Radiant Garden."

Mickey gasped in horror, alarming his friends, as a memory entered his mind, "Now I understand!"

* * *

 _It was 9 years ago when Mickey felt that the stability of the worlds were not right, even after a year since thei disappearences of Terra and Aqua, Ventus losing his heart and Master Xehanort vanishing. It didn't help when meteors in form of gummi-blocks appeared. So, with the aid of Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale, he invented the Gummi-Ship, and made his way back to Radiant Garden to meet with his friend and fellow King; Ansem the Wise._

 _As he passed through the corridors, he briefly noticed a strangely familiar youth who walked passed him, and for a split second, Mickey felt a terrible feeling that made him freeze and softly gasp. This terrible and terrifying feeling...he felt it before, one that nearly caused fear to swallow him up as if he was being gobbled up by a giant. But it couldn't be, could it? Maybe it was a coincidence._

 _Now more gravely worried for the worlds, Mickey swallowed the lump in his throat as he was terrified, and made his way to Ansem's lab. He had to calm down and fast. The closer he got to Ansem, the more calm he was getting, much to his relief. He had to warn his friend about this. When they first met a year ago, they quickly became close friends. Mickey found that Ansem was very nice and understood why this world was so peaceful, despite the Unversed._

 _Finally, he made it and knocked on the door. Getting a confirmation to enter, Mickey opened to door to find the elderly man at his desk, eating his favorite treat of Sea-Salt Ice Cream._

 _"Mickey...It's been a while." Ansem the Wise greeted, gesturing the younger King to come closer and take a seat at the chair in front of the desk._

 _Mickey, bowing slightly, replied, "Wise Ansem. I'm here to seek your advice."_

 _Both of them were silent for a moment, before Mickey went into a full explaintion about how he felt and sensed that the worlds could be in danger. Ansem admitted that he was doing an experiment on the power of the hearts of all life and the secret doors that may lead to the hearts of the worlds, though after Mickey's explaination, an uneasiness that he felt since a year ago grew even more._

 _"I'm glad we have the opportunity to speak like this, my friend." Ansem said, "I'm intrigued by your hypothesis...and I'm finding it difficult to stave off the urge to test it." before admitting with a frown, "Still, I'm concerned about the stability of the worlds."_

 _Mickey nodded in grim agreement, "Yup. That's what worries me too." and he could also sense the guilt in his older friend. They haven't known each other for long, but they were already close. Mickey couldn't even think of losing Ansem; not after losing Ven and Aqua. Not after Terra's disappearence._

 _"The doors that appeared. The place the Heartless seek." Ansem continued, before placing a hand to his forehead, mentally hitting himself for not realising this sooner, "I fear my research may have brought this upon us..."_

 _But before either of them could continue, there was knock on the door, and Mickey, startled, turned to look behind him, and the feeling he felt earlier returned, but he tried to hide the expression of fear, feeling his heart hammer, shivering but trying to control it. The door opened as Ansem looked up, and the youth Mickey saw earlier stood in the doorway, before bowing to his master._

 _"Master Ansem," The youth began, "Regarding the experiment I presented the other day... With your permission, I'd like to proceed-"_

 _"I forbid it!" Ansem declined loudly and almost angerily as it stood up and pounded a fist on the desk, enough to make Mickey jump in fright, which the older ruler noticed, before softening his tone, and continuning to his newest apprentince, firmly, "Forget this talk of doors, and the heart of all worlds. That place must not be defiled!"_

 _"But, Master Ansem! I've been thinking-" the Youth tried to protest, but Ansem shook his head._

 _What he said next made Mickey freeze again, hearing a name he thought he'd never hear again. "Xehanort...Those thoughts are best forgotten."_

 _'_ X-Xehanort? _' Mickey thought to himself, now in full fear, but managed to hold in it. '_ No. It can't be...It's not the same, right? I mean, m-maybe he's a fella with the same name. A lotta people share all kinds of names. _' he tried to assure himself, but his heart and guts were telling him otherwise. But how was it possible?_

 _Xehanort, in defeat, bowed again and took his leave, closing the door behind him._

 _"I apologuise for my tone of voice, King Mickey." Ansem sighed. He then noticed that the younger king, who turned around again and stared at the floor, looking quite frightened, and it concerned him. "What's wrong?" he asked._

 _"Um..." Mickey began, hesitatedly, "A-about Xehanort. H-how-when did ya make him your apprentince?" he asked, shrugged, trying to hold in his fear._

 _"He was found a year ago, unconscious." Ansem replied, "All he could remember was his name, but other than that, he has suffered amesia, so I took him in."_

 _"I see." Mickey thought. Maybe it was a coincidence._

* * *

But now that Mickey thought about it back in the present, he realised in sheer horror of the biggest error he's ever made, he covered his face with his hand, guilt rising inside him, his memories of having seen fake-Ansem, the resemblence and how the situation turned out, it made sense now.

"No...How could I've been so stupid?" Mickey asked himself. "It's all my fault...!"

"Mickey?" Riku cried out, alarmed in seeing Mickey in such a state. Aqua was also alarmed, but then she put the two and two together, and guilt rose in her chest as well. "I should've known...Xehanort...But then, how did Terra come back?"

Rather than asking, Riku turned back to Mickey who began to cry in guilt, so the teen, while feeling awkward, did the only thing he could think of. He bend down to Mickey's level of height, pulled the King into an embrace, and, feeling the teen do this, Mickey threw himself into Riku's chest and sobbed, his arms clinging onto Riku's sides, burying his face into the boy's chest.

"It's all my fault..." Mickey sobbed, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I should've stopped him when I had the chance, but I didn't-I didn't even know, and it's all my fault!"

Aqua also bend down to Mickey's level, and while feeling guitly for having been trapped for too long, rubbed the king's back to try and comfort him, her heart and Riku's heart both aching to see the king cry like this.

"Why was I so blind?" Mickey asked feverishly.

"Shh," Riku whispered, holding his friend as comfortly as he could. "It's not your fault, Mickey. We'll figure something out."

"It'll be okay." Aqua added, "Shh. It's alright." automactically being put into her mother-mode.

Feeling his chest hurt, and his throat going all dry and sore, Mickey tried to calm down, and slowly backed away from Riku, before pulling out a hankerchief and after the teen lefts him go, Mickey blowed his noise in the cloth to dry his eyes. Sniffling again, he calmed down enought to stop crying, but still felt guilt in his chest.

"I'm so sorry, fellas." Mickey mumbled. "If I had known, I would've put it an end and maybe saved Terra a long time ago, but I didn't know...Now because of me, all of the worlds were in danger like this. This is the biggest mess I've ever made in my entire life."

"That's not true." Riku pointed out. "If anyone's to blame, it's this Xehanort, not you." placing a hand on Mickey's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Mickey."

"Riku's right." Aqua agreed, now determinded again, "Xehanort's the one who caused all this. If he is back, this time, I'll stop him for good, and we'll find a way to save the Realm of Light and everyone in it."

"Didn't you say that maybe now's the time to start forgiving ourselves?" Riku added.

Seeing the support of his two companions like Donald and Goofy would give him comfort in his time of sadness and sorrow, Mickey wiped away the last of his tears from his eyes, realising that Riku and Aqua were right. Plus with DiZ now the new threat, Mickey can't afford to cry like this, not when the worlds need his help.

"You're right, fellas." Mickey agreed, "We better save the worlds."

"I know how we can get across them. Better hang on tight." Aqua stated, summoning her armor which amazed Riku, before summoning her original Keyblade, and transforming it into her glider, climbing, and allowing an amazed Riku and a now determinded Mickey to climb on. Opening up a portal, the trio blided through the portal to the Lanes in Between, before the portal closed behind them, leaving the room completely empty.

They were off on a new adventure, all unaware of DiZ's goal or what has happened.

* * *

 **A/N: We return to the others in the next chapter, as I wanted this chapter to have Aqua, Mickey and Riku in it since they lacked any spotlight since the last few chapters. Sorry that I couldn't return to Roxas, Xion and Axel in this chapter, but they will return in the next chapter.**

 **In the meantime, please continue your reviews fellow readers, and I'll see you again in the next chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8: Trouble of the Mind

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay guys. Huge amount of stress, only got three and a half weeks before I go on my two/three week vacation, and trying to get things gone left me in stressful writer's block. Not to mention the studies and house problems which adds to everything else.**

 **I won't go on bragging on my sad sob personal story, so let's continue with this Kingdom Hearts story instead, not that I own anything here. All rights belong to Disney, Square Enix and Nintento/Pokemon Company(for the Pokemon world I set up here).**

 **This chapter will mostly be somewhat from Axel's point of view.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter eight: Trouble of the Mind.**_

Back with the Organization...

The last week has been going pretty well for Roxas and Xion, as far as Axel could tell as long as he could keep Saix in the dark that Xion couldn't summon her Keyblade. Unfortunately, today would be the last day Roxas and Xion would be paired up like this. All thanks to stupid Demyx and his stupid curiousity. On top of that, a certain nightmare or two bugged Axel to no end. He himself just returned from his own mission and was found back on the Clock Tower, staring out into the distance.

Wanna know how this happened? Let's recap a day or two before.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

 _A day earlier..._

(Axel's Nightmare)

 _Axel was carrying the unconscious Xion in his arms, quite battered up and bruised himself to the point of he was inches close to collasping. He was so exhausted that he couldn't even remember why he or Xion for that matter, botched a job so badly today, or what actually happened. It all happened in a blur. As the redhead walked, carrying the younger Nobody in his arms, his vision was out of focus every view seconds. It was not a good sign._

 _Finally, his legs gave out, air being forced out of him, and Axel collasped to the ground, accidently dropping Xion in the progress. '_ C-Can't move... _' were his thoughts. He was losing his battle to stay awake, to try and see if Xion was still alive._

 _Just then, a shadowy figure appeared in his vision, and it was approaching the two fallen Nobodies. Axel could barely make out who it was, until the figure got up closer, and to his dismay...it was Xemnas, who was...smiling quite evilly and rather proud that left Axel feel cold, despite having the ability and power over fire. What was going on?_

 _"You've done well." Xemnas told the barely conscious nobody, before he bend and picked up Xion rather more like she was a rag doll, and began to walk away. The coldness in Axel grew, and he never felt so helpless. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. Xion was being taken away from him._

 _'_ No...This-this isn't...what I...wanted...S-Stop. _' Axel pleaded in his mind. He had to do something-anything, to save his friend, but he was too weak. '_ D-Don't... _' for he somehow knew what Xemnas was planning to do with Xion who didn't deserve this._

 _Finally, the last of his strength failed him, and all Axel could do was whisper as he slipped into unconsciousness, "Xi...on..." and then, his world went black..._

 _When he next woke up, Axel strangely found himself healed up, but in an unfamiliar place. Sitting up in a strange and rather creepy looking barren wasteland, the pyro had no idea on what's going on. He attempted to stand up, but froze as he felt something tightly on his wrists and ankles. Looking down, his eyes widened as he was cuffed and chained in shackles which were chained onto the ground, keeping him trapped._

 _"W-wha!? What's going on!?" Axel cried out, trying to restrain and escape the clutches, but they held him tight._

 _ **Don't borther.**_

 _A dark voice spoke out, causing Axel to look up sharply, demanding, "Who's there!?" only to blink in shock, as the Organization, with the exception of Roxas and Xion who were both not there, but in their place, were...Sora and a kid that looked like Roxas?, all stood there, but something was wrong. Every single one of them now all had golden evil like eyes, their hair all turned silver like Xemnas's, and it made Axel go cold again._

 _In the lead of the Organization, was not Xemnas, but rather, an old man who had the same golden eyes, well into his eighties or something, holding a dark, gothic and evil looking Keyblade. The old man approached Axel who renewed his struggling to escape. Something wasn't right. Suddenly, he felt a sense of deja vu hit him like a ton of bricks as the old man pointing his Keyblade at Axel's chest where his heart once was._

 _The dread and fear that filled up inside him, despite knowing that he wasn't meant to feel anything, but at this point, Axel didn't care._

 _ **You are me now.**_ _The man spoke in the dark voice, grinning evilly. He then lunged and stabbed the Keyblade into Axel's chest..._

(Back to reality)

Jolting up and gasping in fright, Axel panted in short, uncontrollable breathing, cold sweat having been formed on his forehead, as he looked around trying to figure out where he was. Once he realised he was safe-ish in his cell-like room in the Castle that Never Was a moment later, and that he checked his chest and saw no wounds, or even on his body, he sighed in relief. This was the second time he had a dream so disturbing. First he nearly killed Namine in one dream while he was in Castle Oblivion, and then just now, he and Xion-wait, Xion!

New panic, though he had no idea why he was feeling this, settled inside him. Was Xion okay? Where's Roxas?

No. He had to ensure himself that what he just witnessed was just some kind of a freaky messed up dream. Calming down a little, Axel decided he didn't want to go back to sleep and might as well get the day started, he changed into cleaner Organization coat made his way out. Unfortunately, he seemed like he wouldn't be able to shake off the dream anytime soon.

"...Hey Xion, is your Keyblade really like Roxas's?" he could hear Demyx ask, in the main room, and once he arrived, Demyx was talking to Roxas, who had his Keyblade out, and Xion, and Saix was just coming in. From what Axel could see, Demyx wanted to see their keyblades.

Oh crap.

"Hey, don't you have your report to do, Demyx?" Axel spoke up, getting everyone's attentions. He took a quick look at Demyx, uh, ahem, extremely sad attempts of a report, which looks more like a 1st grader's hand writing in primary school, and told the slacker, "If I were you, I'd rewrite this. Even _I_ do a better report than you do. Go on, shoo!" he waved the now annoyed Demyx away as the younger Nobody run off in sheer annoyance.

Roxas and Xion tried not to sigh in relief, and Axel saw this as a sign to send them off before they are found out. "Same goes for you two. You've got a mission to do, right? Better get movin'." he told them as he opened up a corridor of darkness for them and pushed them in, with the two kids silently thanking him.

However, once the two younger nobodies were off to another world, Axel noticed that Saix looked rather...supicious and frowning, in somewhat of a realization.

' _Uh-oh._ ' Axel thought, realising that now he knew, he and the two younger nobodies were in trouble. ' _Did he figure it out?_ '

Looks like tomorrow would be the last day for Roxas and Xion, and if Xion still couldn't wield her Keyblade in that time...she's a goner. The memory of her possible execution in his nightmare returned. This was not good. Axel knew he had to do something. It made him wonder why Xemnas didn't dusk Demyx who was more useless than practically anyone else.

Then, at the sight of the couch, it gave Axel another idea. Besides, he was supposed to go to recon today anyway. Perfect.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

A day later, it found Axel sleeping on the couch, which he always found to be more comfortable as a bed than anything else. He had a blanket to keep him warm on the cold night, and a night-sleeping mask that covered his eyes. Now that he was awake after a surprisingly good sleep, Axel was just waiting for the right moment.

"That was close yesterday." Roxas was saying, as he and Xion walked into the room.

"Yeah, I know." Xion agreed.

That's when things got a little bad. Saix, who was expecting them, told them out right that they would to go on solo missions today, much to their worry. Xion still couldn't use her Keyblade, but she didn't say this. As Saix was saying something about the huge Heartless in Beast's Castle, Axel's plan couldn't have gone more perfect as he was there himself.

"Saix..." Axel spoke up, somewhat tiredly, as he lifted the mask off his eyes and had it resting on his forehead, "I think you should let them go together." he continued. He was always a brillent liar, but he knew that this was their last chance.

Saix jolted in agonized shock at the sight of the redhead on the couch, mentally asking, ' _W-What the!?_ '

"I was at Beast's Castle yesterday for recon, and I saw that Heartless you mentioned." Axel continued, drawling, "It wouldn't be a good idea to have only one to eliminate it by themselves."

In his supicisions, Saix firmly told him, "I will not tolorate in you attempting to bail them out."

"Huh?" Axel thought, leaning his head against his hand which he used to lean himself up a bit, asking, "Attempt to what now?" asking for a repeat.

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Back in the present...

As it turned out, Saix allowed Roxas and Xion to go on their mission to Beast Castle one last time, and then, starting tomorrow, they would work solo. Axel in the meantime was sent to, of all places, Port Royal, and that wasn't fun. During the fight to eliminate the Heartless, the stupid things just wouldn't stand still, and he had stumbled and landed flat onto his butt while chasing after them.

Now he was at the Clock Tower, thinking both of Xion's safety and the dreams he had the day before. Axel couldn't understand why this was happening to him, but was happening anyway. This wasn't getting him anywhere. Xion would have to figure it out today, or she was screwed. Roxas was fine, but the blonde was more worried about Xion than anything else, which again, was a surprise to Axel.

Laying down on his back, clasping his hands together behind his head, Axel sighed, as he stared up at the afternoon sky of orange clouds, and part of the Clock Tower in Twilight Town.

All of the sudden, Roxas's face appeared out of nowhere, with a happy expression, saying, "Axel!" which freaked Axel out.

"Whoa!" Axel jolted up, yelping, before quickly realising it was Roxas and Xion who just stood there, asking in surprise, "Where'd you come from?" he didn't even hear them coming. He really must've been out of it, or maybe they'd gotten really good in making silent appearences already. The two younger nobodies giggled and they seemed to be in a good mood.

"How was your mission?" Roxas asked.

Glad for the distraction from the troubles in his mind, Axel replied, "You know, I sure wish the Heartless would hold still once in a while. I fell right on my butt chasing them."

"I thought you said you wouldn't be eliminated." Roxas pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever, that's got nothing to do with it." Axel replied, before asking, "So, how'd your captor go?"

Roxas and Xion looked at each other, nodding. The latter then held out her hand, and proudly summoned her Keyblade with ease! "Ta-daaaah!" Roxas proclaimed happily.

Axel gasped in surprise. He couldn't believe it. Xion actually did it. She regained her ability to summon her Keyblade. Something must've happened that caused her to regain that ability. Mentally, he was relieved. Now she was safe from being dusked...for now.

Desummoning her weapon, Xion smiled at her friends, "Roxas, Axel, thank you."

"I didn't do anything." Axel muttered, looking ahead of himself. All he did was make sure that Roxas and Xion wouldn't get into trouble.

"You made it possible for the two of us to go on a mission together." Xion pointed out to Axel, referring to herself and Roxas.

Roxas nodded in agreement, adding to Axel, "If it weren't for you, Xion might never have remember how to wield the Keyblade."

"So thanks, Axel." Xion continued.

Feeling unusually warm inside his chest where his heart was, not to mention the unusual but comfortable warmth on his face, Axel ran his hand through his hair, he realised that the kids were right. He supposed that he, for once in his existance as a Nobody, that he actually did something that made him feel rather proud but also quite embarrassed. Long ago, he was so cold and cruel. Now, ever since these two came along, he realised he was beginning to change, and...he actually quite liked it.

Another idea came up, and he suggested, "How 'bout a Sea-Salt Ice Cream, then?"

"Huh?" Xion tilted her head a little to the side.

Axel smiled, and said, "Buy me one and we'll call it even."

Happily, Xion nodded, "You got it! I'll be right back!" and ran off to get the three treats and Roxas chuckled.

* * *

The next day, it was a meeting day, and Xemnas was showing them the half-completed Kingdom Hearts which hovered in the sky, and he was bragging on and on and on and on and on and on AND on about hearts, being becoming human beings, and ect. In other words, same old song and dance, and the rest of the remaining Organization didn't care anymore.

Behind Xemnas's back, Xigbar was so bored that he pulled out a magazine and plugged up his left ear to not really hear what the superior was saying. Demyx was fast asleep, drooling while standing up. Roxas and Xion just stood there, not understanding, and Xion had her Keyblade out in case she had trouble summoning it again.

Luxord and Xaldin both yawned loudly in boredom and tiredness. Axel had his hands in his pockets, not really paying attention, and just glanced at the last remaining Nobody next to him. Speaking of Saix, who by now has gotten into a boiling point of just wanting to go berserk for having to hear Xemnas brag on about the same thing over and over again, just inches closer in falling apart.

All in all, this meeting, like all meetings, was boring as hell. Especially when Xemnas brags on about the same thing every single time, and could go on for hours.

When the meeting was finally over, everyone gathered back into the living room group by group.

Roxas and Axel were the last ones to come into the living courters, and the blonde-haired boy asked, "So, what does Xemnas mean about being completely whole?"

"Same thing as always." Axel replied, shrugging as he had his hands behind his head. "He's just reminding us that once Kingdom Hearts is complete, we'll have hearts of our own and become human beings again."

"Isn't he at least concerned about the red cloaked figure?" Roxas asked, a bit more softly this time, "I mean, everyone said that he's very dangerous."

"Now that you mentioned it, I haven't heard anything much about that either." Axel thought. Ever since Castle Oblivion, things had gone unusually quiet on the mysterious two figures. Maybe they both died sudden and horrible deaths? Nah, he'd doubt that happened. Then a more concerning thought occurred to him. What if they were waiting for the right moment to strike? What were they after anyway?

"Aww! It is like Roxas's." Demyx was saying as the two got closer, and it sounded disappointed. "That's lame."

"Yup! It is like Roxas's!" Xion was saying proudly, as she showed off her Keyblade, just as the puzzled Roxas and Axel walked in. The girl noticed her two friends and happily waved at them, making both of them smile.

"She seems very happy." Roxas thought.

"Yeah, now that she has her Keyblade back." Axel agreed, finding himself strangely relieved and happy himself. He'd come to the decision that, for the first time in ten years, things aren't so bad in the Organization. Roxas and Xion made him feel bit like what he used to be when he was a kid himself, back when he was human.

Saix then came, firmly informing everyone to get onto their jobs, which Xion immediately did, as she was eager than ever to do her job. Demyx and Xigbar on the other hand, practically groaned in annoyance for having to do more work.

While Roxas left on his own mission, Saix, who had also noticed Xion's unusual happiness, inquired, "It seems rather happy. Did something happen?"

"Who can say?" Axel shrugged casually. Folding his arms to his chest, he continued with a smirk, "But I guess she found her own desire of motivation."

"Hmmm. Yes, motivation." Saix somewhat agreed, though he was supicious. He knew that Axel had something to do with Roxas and Xion being on missions together, and while the number of hearts had gone quicker than usual, with tons more hearts than ever, he was getting impaitent on his and Axel's own goal.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, the trio were once again on the Clock Tower, and what Axel was hearing that he didn't hear yesterday surprised him. "Living together? The three of us?" he asked, after Roxas and Xion told them that, during their mission at Beast's Castle, they had thought to run away, but once Xion regained her Keyblade, they changed the plan to include Axel and to have them live together.

"Yeah, once Kingdom Hearts is complete!" Xion said.

"Then we can continue doing this forever!" Roxas added.

Shaking his head with an sad smirk, Axel asked, "C'mon, guys. Can't you two think of anything else to do other than having ice cream for fun?"

The two younger Nobodies glanced at each other in thought, then replied in unision, "Nope."

"Uh huh." Axel sighed, before explaining, "There's more to do than just having ice cream, ya know? And we could end up fighting over some things."

"Really?" Roxas asked, getting a bit worried.

Taking a bite out of his ice cream, Axel continued, "Besides, it's not gonna happen. 'Cause we're Nobodies. You never know that we could just disappear at sort notice. So it's not a good idea to plan ahead." but when he gazed at them again, his eyes widened at the saddened and horrified realization looks on their expressions.

Seeing them gazing at him, Axel stuttered, "W-what? It's not my fault. Blame reality!"

Roxas and Xion, seeing that he had a point, whispered at each other, discussing that they haven't even thought about that. Axel found himself smiling on how he found their expressions priceless and how they looked...cute. Wait, what? Cute? Where'd that come from? But then again, he realised that he enjoyed their company. He didn't feel so alone like he had back when he first joined the Organization. To the Orgainzation, he was just a worker. To Roxas and Xion, he was their mentor, their friend. He also came to realise that they were his friends too. Real friends.

"Maybe it is a dream," Roxas thought, bringing Axel back to reality as the latter gazed at him with a slight puzzled expression, before the former continued, "But I'd still want to be together forever with you guys."

"What about you, Axel? Don't you want to?" Xion asked, as she and Roxas both looked at him, looking ready to cry, with puppy-dog eyes.

Now that he found so adorable. "I'd love to." Axel replied. He'd never get bored with this these kids. He can laugh, smile, and some other things, as if he just gained a heart. Smirking, he declared, "I accept your proposal." much to their delight and happiness.

Maybe living together would be nice.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the top of the castle, Xemnas was still gazing at Kingdom Hearts his Organization was creating. For while his other half's plans had failed due to Sora and his friends, there was still time to continue the plan that not even Saix or Axel knew. Xigbar knew, but that was all secret. Once Kingdom Hearts is complete, then the real goal would take place, and those fools of members would never see it coming, as their souls would forever...be vanquished.

' _Soon, my Kingdom Hearts will be completed._ ' Xemnas thought to himself. ' _My Keybearer and Puppet are doing a fabulous job. As long as Axel holds them together, things will go according to plan._ ' he grinned evilly at himself, for he was secretly having invisioned the three of them being together.

Just then, he felt an unusual and painful jolt in his mind, as if his brain exploded, and his vision went gray and black. Being forced to shut his eyes, Xemnas slowly opened them again, but instead of the red-brown eyes, they were blank and pure white as milk, glowing.

" _ **Come to me.**_ " a dark voice whispered. Mind controlled like a puppet himself, Xemnas held out a hand and summoned a corridor of darkness, and walked into it.

"Yo, bossman." Xigbar's voice called out as he appeared from the darkness. "Got some info on the...my..steri...ous...guy?" he trailed off as he just witnessed Xemnas stepping into the corridor of darkness. "Huh? Where the hell is he goin'?"

Supicious, Xigbar quickly followed before the corridor could close, and he soon found himself in the passage of the worlds in between. "Okay? Where is he?" he asked himself. "Him coming here by himself? As if. He hardly ever lives unless it's in the throne room meetings."

A sudden agonized scream snapped him to look ahead of himself, and he instantly regretted it. His single eye widened in pure shock, at Xigbar was just witnessing Xemnas being stabbed and then slashed by a silver-cloaked figure with a familiar Keyblade, and instantly, Xemnas vanished, before his remains were sucked in by...DiZ who allowed the remains to be held inside his body.

Xigbar then could strangly here the sickening crunch as if someone was being eaten alive, and then, it was silent.

"Well, done, my slave." DiZ smirked, while the silver-cloaked figure, Terra, lowered his Keyblade. "Now we can move onto the rest of the Organization by first finding them."

 _'Oh hell no. That guy just ruined everything, and just ATE Xemnas inside his body like in some sick horror movie!? That's it, I'm outta here!_ ' Xigbar thought to himself as he quickly dashed away to avoid in getting caught, but instead of returning to the Castle, he knew he had to come up with a new plan now. He disappeared into a portal to another world.

For one thing, Xehanort's plans are now ruined all together, but the dangers are still there.

* * *

(Roxas's nightmare)

 _"Our union was not finished." said a black-haired figure as he hovered down towards a boy who looked like Roxas, on a glass platform. The black-haired boy was holding a weapon that looked broken and missing pieces._

 _"The X-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join me now, and we can complete the X-blade!" the black-haired figure decalred._

 _The blonde-haired boy shook his head, "I've got a better idea. How 'bout I destroy you both?" summoning his own Keyblade..._

(Back to reality)

Snapping his eyes open, Roxas sat up, blinking tiredly. "Creepy dream." he thought to himself, but it somehow felt...familiar. Was that himself when he was a human? Who was that other figure? It made him feel a bit nausues in the stomach, and when he realised that it was in the middle of the night, he didn't really feel like getting back to sleep.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Next morning, Axel walked into the living area himself after a bad night of sleep himself, yawning while holding his hand over his mouth. Again, he had those nightmares that left him shaken. This time, he dream't that he killed Zexion with a Riku replica, and that left him feel awfully cold. In fact, he felt the coldness when he woke up, and had trouble shaking it off.

"Mornin'." he greeted. However, he soon realised that he wasn't the only one who had a bad night of sleep. Axel saw Xion who held a worried expression on her face, sitting next to an rather overly tired Roxas who could barely keep his eyes open.

"Hey! What happened to you?" Axel asked, rushing over to see of Roxas was okay.

"Oh...hey, Axel." Roxas greeted, trying to keep his eyes open. "Had a rough night last night. I couldn't sleep." he told his friends.

' _You and me both._ ' Axel thought, but he didn't voice it. He was more concerned on what happened to Roxas. He turned to Xion who shook her head as she had no idea herself either.

"I woke up this morning and I found Roxas like this, and I got very worried." Xion told him. "He said something about a nightmare last night."

"Nightmares?" Axel blinked.

Once he was bit more awake, Roxas explained, "Not really a nightmare...I think it was a memory, I'm not sure. I had a dream of myself, or, someone who looked just like me, on a bizzure looking place, standing on some kind of glass platform, and then this other guy with black hair in a red suit kind of thing with this keyblade-looking sword."

He paused, before continued, "He then said something about joining him and completing that weapon...I think he said it was a X-Blade or something."

"X-Blade?" Axel blinked, just as confused as the young blonde. "That's a new one." he admitted. "I never heard of a X-Blade before. Keyblades, yeah, but not that thing." he was also confused on how Roxas would see something like that. That wasn't Sora's memory, he was certain of it. Something weird was going on, Axel was sure of it.

"That sounds horrible." Xion thought, "You said it was a memory?"

Roxas shook his head, "I don't know, but, it seemed really familiar. Something bad happened, I just...have a bad feeling about it."

Now he was surprised on that response. Axel couldn't believe on what he was hearing. "Of all the..." he paused, trying not to laugh. "You acting like a real person."

"I am?" Roxas asked, confused. Xion looked equally confused too.

"Yeah." Axel replied, in a puzzled and awkward smile, "That's something a human would say. It's like you're saying, 'I'm scared that the nightmare is real'."

"Really? Then, I'm the opposite." Roxas thought. "It's not that I'm scared that the nightmare is real. What I'm afraid of is that maybe it's not a dream, but my memories." as he and Xion stood up.

"Roxas..." Axel muttered, in disbelief. Was the kid developing himself into a human being? Well, with Sora still around, and how they both are currently co-existing, like Kairi and Namine, maybe it's a possibily, but it was strange and unusual.

Xion blinked, then thought, "If that's the case, then, maybe something terrible happened and that was really you, and you lost your heart when you fought against that other person?" before turning to Axel and asked, "Could it be that, Axel?"

Shrugging helplessly, Axel replied, "Why are you asking me?" and he, and his two friends all smirked sheepishly, while Demyx, Xaldin and Luxord all came into the room as well, ignoring the trio who ignored them...until.

"Hey, where's Xigbar?" Demyx spoke up, looking around. This got everyone's attention and they all looked around, realising that Xigbar wasn't out yet.

"Maybe he left earlier than usual?" Axel asked, sarcastically.

"But he's normally here after we got up." Roxas pointed out.

"It is strange." Xaldin admitted, "He should be here, considering how Saix wanted us to meet here this morning for an announcement." which got everyone else's attentions again, as they stared at him in surprise.

"Really? You don't say." Luxord thought, fiddling with his cards. "I wonder what it could be."

"Maybe he's gonna give us a day off?" Demyx thought, which only rechieved him weirded and/or annoyed looks from the other members, and he shrugged, "Well, it's an idea."

"Day off? What's that?" Xion asked.

Axel smiled, despite having a supiction that something wasn't right, and he answered, "It means it's a day where we can do anything we want and don't have to work. Basically, it's a rest day."

"Anything we want?" Roxas blinked, confused. "I never had a day off before."

"Sounds like fun." Xion thought, taking a liking to the idea already. "If that's true, then we have to have a meeting on that or something!" causing Axel to look at her in disbelief.

"Uh, Xion?" Axel began, "When I say, rest day, I mean, we rest for as long as we like on the day, or just having fun."

"Well, what did you want do to?" Xion asked.

The redhead shrugged, "Sleep, roll over and sleep some more." much to the black-haired girl's shock.

"Unfortunately, there is no day off today." Saix's voice spoke out as the blue-haired man walked into the room, causing Demyx, Xaldin and Luxord to all groan, while Axel, Xion and Roxas turned to gaze at him, and, even they were surprised to see a rather tired expression on his face, as he continued, "I'm afraid I have some troubling news."

"What kind of news? Heartless invasion?" Axel asked, sarcastically, though the suspiction was getting worse.

"Worse." Saix replied, and what he said next nearly sent everyone into pure shock. "Lord Xemnas and Xigbar have gone missing."

* * *

 **A/N: So Xemnas is out of the picture and Xigbar ran off. Things are not looking good at all. DiZ has really done it this time! What will happen now?**

 **We continue the story in the next chapter. Please review before you leave, fellow readers, and I'll see you again, possibly either sometime this month, or, after I get back from my vacation later next month. Coming to the end of 2015 already! Time has gone too quickly!**


	9. Chapter 9: Changes aren't always good

**Author's note: I'm back from my holiday guys, but I probably won't be writing as much as I would like for the next couple of weeks, since I...*Coughs and hacks, and tries to sneeze but can't* got a bad cold at the moment, which sucks. But that doesn't mean I can't write.**

 **All rights belong to Disney, Square Enix and Nintento/Pokemon Company(for the Pokemon world I set up here).**

* * *

 _ **Chapter nine: Changes aren't always good.**_

Continuing from the last chapter with the Sea-Salt trio...

When Saix had just announced that Xemnas and Xigbar are missing, everyone else was completely silent. At first, most of them thought this was some kind of joke, but then again, the blue-haired man never joked, much less even smile, and Axel has known him of being completely emotionless since becoming a Nobody. Still, the news that the Superior and a co-worker gone missing was unsettling, even to him.

"...Am I dreaming, or are you completely serious?" Axel was the first to break the silence as he asked.

"I would rather this to be a dream myself, but unfortunately, this is real." Saix muttered, sighing. "I've searched as many places as possible for the Superior and Xigbar, but to no avail."

Now Axel was getting supicious. "Who are you and what have you done to Saix?" he asked, half sarcastically.

"Why would the Superior and Xigbar just disappear like that?" Xion thought, getting more worried now.

"If I knew, I would told you. Unfortunately, he is not even on the rooftop where Kingdom Hearts is closely seen." Saix replied. "I doubt Xigbar has any connections with Lord Xemnas's disappearence, but with him also missing...it leaves me troubled." though Axel knew that Saix was a bit more than pleased with this. This is better than their original plan, but still...this wasn't what the redhead had in mind.

Despite that Roxas didn't like the idea of having Saix as the Organization's new current leader, a thought occured to him and he couldn't help but ask, "You don't think, that the guy in the red coat has anything to do with it?" causing everyone else to stare at him, all in hints of 'surprise'. On the other hand, now that this was said, it was possible that Roxas's theory might be right.

"Surprisingly, those were my first thoughts, and I cannot rule it out completely as a possible salution." Saix agreed. "If the mysterious enemy in red has anything to do with this, then it's possible that he knows where we are and took them by surprise."

Demyx's eyes widened in fear, both that the man in red has possibly taken out Xemnas and Xigbar, and that now that Saix was the current avaliable leader, he was on a higher risk of being Dusked completely. So, in order to prevent himself in becoming a Dusk, he hesitatedly asked, "So uh...what's the plan for today, Sir?"

For once, Saix was on mental edge. This wasn't what he had in mind, despite that he had now current full control of the Organization. So he gave out the orders he was all too used to by now, "For now, continue the Heart collecting until further notice. At the same time, if you see the man in red, avoid him as much as possible. We do not know how powerful he is."

Demyx was the first to leap up and teleport himself away to his mission, almost screaming. Xaldin and Luxord also vanished to a random world as well. Roxas and Xion glanced at each other, then to Axel who shrugged, just as lost as they were. Not knowing what kind of world would be suitable for missions, Roxas and Xion both teleported into a Corridor and headed towards Twilight Town to take out more Heartless. Once the other five members were gone, Axel was left alone with the Nobody of his childhood friend back when they were both human.

Both men were silent on the matter, as their plan to overtake the Organization hasn't gone as well as they figured, since it was too easy, but at the same time, it left them at loss and both felt uncomfortable. Eventually, Axel was the first to break the silence, and he asked, "So, you're the current leader now. Still wanna go search for whatever Lord Xemnas was looking for?"

"In truth, with Lord Xemnas gone, I'm not certain." Saix muttered. "With the Superior gone, those clues we sought out to discover his agenda now seem a waste."

"It was probably a waste since we got here." Axel shrugged, before adding with a bit more firm expression, "You and I both know that Xemnas was secretive, even to his own employees. The only one I know who talks a lot about him is Xigbar, and I don't even like that guy either. He was secretive too."

He walked closer to the other man and continued as he stopped a few inches away, "You had something to do with their disappearences, didn't you?"

Saix only quirked an eyebrow at Axel, and asked, "Do you really think I would be the cause of their disappearences, even after nine years of serving Xemnas?"

"You do have a short temper." Axel admitted. "Always have been the one not to wait. Like back when we were kids." referring to their childhood times when Axel was Lea and Saix was Isa.

"Thank you for your compliment." Saix muttered sarcastically, before stating firmly, "I don't have any responsability to what happened to Lord Xemnas or Xigbar. For one thing, I have a feeling that Roxas may be right. For someone new and young, he has intelliegence."

Axel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Rox' is smart and all, and I like that kid. Xion too. But there is a certain sentence we all know at school named, 'Paying attention' to classes." he said in half sarcasm, but then he admitted, "I gotta hand it to ya's, you might be right. Maybe Xemnas's distraction over Kingdom Hearts finally got him so distracted that the guy in the red cloak caught him off-guard."

The redhead then asked, more to himself than to his former friend, "But what gets to me is, though, how did he figure this place out or when to attack without any of us sensing him?"

"You couldn't sense him in Castle Oblivion?"

"Come on, I would've told you that much." Axel pointed out. "I told you before that place was a maze, one who couldn't teleport like we can could end up stuck in forever."

"But you did mention of that woman, Aqua, for she had senses to that place as far as you reported." Saix stated.

Axel blinked, then admitted, "Well, sort of. I think she was too busy focusing on Riku. Besides, she was Marluxia's backup plan, since Naminé disappeared and Sora never stepped foot at the Castle."

"Then let give you another reason." Saix began, looking at Axel right in the eyes with his current amber-coloured ones, "Xion comes from the castle to which Naminé can be traced."

The red-haired man gasped softly in shock, caught off-guard. Xion came from Castle Oblivion too? How was that possible? Was she also connected to Kairi? That didn't make any sense. So he let the blue-haired man continue. "The place where both Naminé and Xion were born... It's practically calling out for you."

Axel held in the uncomfortable feeling that was slowly rising to explode. First Roxas was remembering things that Sora never encountered, and Xion...born in Castle Oblivion? Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

In the end, he shrugged, saying, "Hmph... Whatever. As far as the castle goes, you're the one who really wants to go there. Since Xemnas is gone, this might be an opputinity for you. Now this is a chance to really figure out what he was looking for in that chamber. You would find out everything about Xemnas's true agenda. Am I right?"

"The Chamber of Repose, as well as the Chamber of Waking." Saix confirmed. "Xemnas has an agenda that he hasn't told to anybody. And we are bound to find some clues in the Chamber of Waking."

"My original plan was to dispose of Vexen and Zexion." Axel said, "But Larxene and that guy in red has beaten me to both occascions. But still, I knew the time would come when Vexen and Zexion got in your way. That's why I took the initiative...and cleared the way to the top for you. I can handle all the dirty work. You go all the way to the top."

"Considering there is nothing left to do now that Xemnas is gone, you will go to Castle Oblivion today." Saix stated, turning to leave.

"By the way, was there any mention of this some kind of X-Blade before Xemnas disappeared?" Axel asked before his former friend could leave, causing Saix to pause.

Both were silent, before the blue-haired man shook his head. "Never heard of it." before he walked away, leaving Axel alone.

Castle Oblivion...Namine...Xion...the X-Blade from Roxas's nightmare. Axel couldn't help but strangely feel unsettled by this. Saix was hiding something, and he knew it. Axel thought back of his own nightmares, and they left him cold. He had some investigating to do, but he couldn't mention this to Roxas or Xion. They were both still new...and young. They were his friends. He lost so much since becoming a Nobody, and he couldn't lose anything more precious to him.

Not again.

* * *

Back with Sora and his group...

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Namine, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Togepi and Brock made it into the town, still looking around, but so far, not a single Heartless was around yet, which was a good sign. However, just as they were about to approach a Pokemon centre, in the small gap large enough to fit three people between two buildings, the group froze as they heard a strange noise, and when they turned to look, a corridor of darkness appeared, alarming Sora and his group, while Ash and his group flinched.

Out of the darkness, came Demyx who was panting, almost as if he was out-running a dragon. "Oh man..." The lazy Nobody panted. "Saix's gonna dusk me for sure. I just know it!"

At the sight of the young man suddenly appearing out of nowhere, Ash and his friends freaked out and cried out in fear, "Ahhh! A ghost!" causing Sora, Donald and Goofy to summon their weapons as they thought Demyx was a Heartless, while Namine, recongising the coat, gasped before hiding behind Sora, in fear that she would end up back in the Organization's clutches.

Demyx finally noticed the group and flinched, realising he was busted and blew his cover already. But then he realised what the younger people said and pouted, "Did you just call me a ghost? That was just plain rude."

"B-B-But you just appeared outta nowhere." Brock whimpered.

"Who are you anyway?" Sora demanded.

Demyx flinched, both at Sora's tone, then gazing at his Keyblade, and his eyes widened as he realised what this meant; he came to think that all Keyblades looked exactly the same, and that Sora looked just like Roxas, except for the hair colour. But then he also realised that he was in trouble, before collasping to his news, and clapped his hands together as if he was about to do a prayer, and then, pathetically went into pleading despair at the group who, seeing this now stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Pleeease! Don't mention this to anyone! I'm begging yooooooooooouuuuu!" Demyx pleaded.

Sora only quirked an eye-brow, before stating with a confused shrug, "You're bizzure."

"Which is an upgraded saying of weird." Ash added in agreement.

"Who are you?" Donald demanded.

Demyx stood up, not wanting to give out details about the Organization or that he was a Nobody. To a human or whatever else's eye, he looked and acted human as well. So instead, he rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Just someone from the darkness, though right now, I'm in a loophole since my boss disappeared." before flinching and covered his mouth in panic.

Sora and his group looked at each other, wondering who else they had to fight other than Pete. It was also strange that the mysterious 'boss' this guy in the black coat just disappeared like that. The fact that Demyx said he came from the darkness, it gave them a pause as maybe there was more than just Ansem that was threatening the worlds. Goofy then looked at Demyx and asked, "Your boss disappeared?"

"How did that happen?" Ash added, a bit curious himself.

"I don't have a clue, since I only found out today." Demyx made the slip again, then quickly turned around, grumbling to himself, "Oh man. Me and my big mouth. They sure picked the wrong guy to send to this world."

"Who is this kook?" Sora asked, even more dumbfounded.

It wasn't until Namine gently tugged his sleeve and she whispered to him and the others who also noticed, "He's part of the Organization I told you about. He's one of the Nobodies." making their eyes widen, and they turned back to Demyx who still had his back to them.

Demyx then turned around again, and, seeing how he had no orders to confront Sora and his friends, shrugged and waved, "I'll uh, take my leave. Catch'ya later." and began to teleport away.

"Wait!" Donald cried out, running over to stop him, but he was too late, as Demyx disappeared and Donald landed flat on his face. Pushing himself up, he grumbled in annoyance, "Nuts! He got away."

"That was weird." Sora blinked. "What was that guy talking about?"

"Maybe they're looking for me." Namine muttered, worriedly.

Goofy was in deep thought, before he said, "Gawrsh, he sure kinda didn't act like he was looking for anythin'." before turning to his friends, a bit concerned and said, "I think he was tellin' the truth."

"You mean about his boss disappearing?" Brock asked, before nodding in agreement, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing too."

"He didn't attack us, so what was his main problem?" Misty asked, "And the way he begged us like that, something weird is going on."

"I wish I knew what else is happening." Sora thought, crossing his arms. Just then, something strange happened, and Ash's hat suddenly glowed, alarming the ten year old, and it floated up into the air, and the tip of Sora's Keyblade glowed as well, confusing everyone.

"What's going on?" Ash asked, alarmed.

As if feeling like he knew what to do, Sora held out his Keyblade, as it continued to glow along with Ash's hat, and the light formed a crown-shaped symbol underneath him, which then surrounded the teen, transporting him into some kind of realm. The hat behind him shot out a beam of light which created a keyhole above Sora. Acting, Sora aimed the weapon at the keyhole, and a beam of light shot out from the Keyblade, and hitting the keyhole, locking it up, and everything turned white, before Sora found himself back with his friends, and Ash's hat returned floated back into the ten year old boy's hands.

Just then, a corridor of light opened up, and Sora and his companions all realised what this must mean. "The door to light?" Sora muttered, "That means it must lead to another world, maybe to where Riku and the King are!" excitedly.

"Oh boy!" Donald exclaimed in excitement.

Turning to Ash and his friends, Sora said, "Sorry to run off, but other worlds are calling."

"Guess this is goodbye, huh." Ash thought, then nodded, "Hope we'll see you again soon." and his friends agreed.

Sora and his companions all nodded, while Namine was a bit nervous, but didn't want to burden Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy. Saying farewell to Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Togepi and Brock, the five worldly travellers entered the corridor of light which closed behind them, and taking them towards their next destination in their quest to find Riku and King Mickey, and find out more about the mysterious Organization that had kept Namine prisoner in Castle Oblivion.

* * *

While traversing through the Lanes Between, Aqua, Riku and Mickey were getting closer to their next destination, wondering how things will turn out. They had to find out more about Xehanort's schemes, as well as DiZ's plots that would mean the end of the worlds. They haven't spoke a word since leaving Hollow Bastion.

Suddenly, they heard a loud roar sounding distant behind them, but then they realised it was starting to get louder and louder, meaning that something was getting closer. The trio looked around, before Riku turned his head slightly to look behind him and he gasped in horror, realising what was about to catch up to them.

"Aqua! Go faster!" Riku cried out.

Aqua and Mickey both also looked to see, and they gasped in horror, as a giant whale, Riku recongised as Monstro, was starting to catch up to them, and from what the two understood, it's giant mouth was slowly opening. It was going to swallow them up!

"Hold on!" Aqua called out to her friends, before boosting her glider to full speed as fast as it would allow her, while Mickey and Riku both hanged on as best as the could. All three of them were now panicking, in fear of being eaten by a giant monster of a whale who saw anything smaller than it as meals-breakfest, lunch and dinner.

Monstro had it's mouth wide open and attempted to suck in the group and swallow them up, and was getting closer and closer, almost engulfing them. Mickey looked back briefly and gasped, his heart pounding faster in fear, and shut his eyes tightly, turning away, starting to shake. Aqua sensed this and urged her glider to go faster, while shifting to the left to avoid in getting herself, Riku and Mickey chomped or swallowed, while her companions held on as tightly as they could to avoid in falling off.

The giant whale then tried to eat them to the left, but Aqua shifted to the right this time, narrowly avoiding Monstro again, but was becoming more difficult, and if she didn't do something soon, she, Mickey and Riku will be swallowed up. Just then, a world was coming into view-it looked like a city with a tall tower. Seeing the opening, Aqua told her friends to hold on, before urging her glider to go faster as the opening to the world is shown.

Monstro, not willing to have it's meal escape, opened his mouth wider and got closer and closer to the trio who saw this and screamed, as they tried to get to the world before it could eat them, and braced themselves for either impact. The large jaws shadowed over the trio who were halfway in being sucked into the mouth which was about to slam shut with them swallowed up...

But Aqua, Mickey and Riku practically threw themselves, glider and all, into the corridor to land into the world, just seconds before Monstro could shut it's mouth and trap them inside. The giant whale had missed out. Angered and disappointed, it floated away, far away from the world and to somewhere else in the Lanes Between.

The portal opening in an ally of the large city, Aqua, Mickey and Riku flew out and landed hard on the ground, as the portal closed. Aqua's armor discarded itself, returning her clothes back to normal, and her glider turning back into her Keyblade and desummoning itself. The three of them slowly pushed themselves up, panting as they had out-run and narrowly escaped from being eaten with their lives. They were breathing hard, tramutized from the experience of the giant whale. Riku recalled in being side the whale before, but back then, he was working for Maleficent and had actually had transport to get out.

Still, it wasn't a nice experience.

"G-Gosh." Mickey panted. "That was so close. For a second there, I thought we were gonna get eaten."

"I thought we weren't going to make it." Aqua nodded. "I've heard of large whales before, but I've never heard of one that big in attempts to eat people."

"That was Monstro." Riku told them, sighing, "I've seen it before. It's a long story, but, from what I heard, that whale swallows up anything it sees, and even swallows large ships alive." shuddering a little.

Despite feeling pale, Mickey tried to lighten the mood and said, "Well, at least we made it, right?" shrugging.

Before they could continue the conversation, though, suddenly they sensed movement from the exit and all looked up, with Aqua questioning, "Who's there?"

"I was, uh, about to ask the same thing." this came from a young woman who looked no older than 14, coming to 15, with long blonde hair styled with buns on the top that looked like meatballs, blue eyes, and wearing some kind of fuku outfit with red boots and white gloves. Her companions wore the same styled fuku outfits, except all five of them were different colours and shoes. One had short blue hair, another had brown hair, green eyes and was the tallest, another had loose blonde hair with a red bow, and the last one had dark black-purple hair, and dark purple eyes. They were same age as the girl in the middle.

The four other girls collasped to the ground(anime style) at their leader's choice of words. The dark-haired female leaped back up and exclaimed, "That's not how you say that, Sailor Moon!"

Sailor Moon, the leader, looked at her companion in annoyance that looked comical and cute, as she yelled back, "Can't you see I'm busy here, Sailor Mars? Besides, those three don't strike as bad guys. Two of them look like good people and that mouse actually looks nice and cute."

"Looks can be decieving, and we all know how gulliable you can be." Sailor Mars pointed out.

"I may be gullible but I'm not _that_ gullible!" Sailor Moon retorted childishly, before she sticked her tongue out, giving her friend a raspberry. Sailor Mars returned the raspberry and the two of them got into a raspberry contest, arguing at the same time, much to the dismay and exasperation of their three companions, while Mickey, Aqua and Riku all glanced at each other in confusion.

Then Aqua gazed at Sailor Moon again, and, for a split second, felt strong warmth from the teenager's body, and she muttered in slight amazement, "I can sense light from that girl."

"Gosh, me too." Mickey added, "She must be kinda similiar to the Princesses of Heart." fully acknowlaging that Sailor Moon can't be a Princess of Heart, because there's Kairi, Snow White, Jasmine, Auora, Belle, Cinderella and Alice.

He then stood up and asked the five girls, "Uh, excuse me? Ladies?" which got their attention, including Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars who all turned to Mickey as he continued, "Um, who are you?" as Aqua and Riku stood up as well.

The girls all blinked, before looking at each other, the blonde one in the orange and blue outfit saying, "I guess Sailor Moon's right. They don't seem bad at all." before she turned to Mickey and said, "We're the Sailor Scouts, Warriors of Justice. I'm Sailor Venus."

"And I'm Sailor Jupiter." Sailor Jupiter, the brown-haired tall girl in green and pink, added.

"And I'm Sailor Mercury." Sailor Mercury, the girl in complete blue, added.

"And I'm Sailor Moon! The leader of the Sailor Scouts!" Sailor Moon said, rather to much heroic, before adding as she introduced Sailor Mars, "And she's Sailor Mars." much to the latter's annoyance. Then she asked, "So who're you guys and where did you come from?"

"I'm Mickey Mouse, but everybody calls me Mickey." Mickey replied.

"I'm Riku." Riku added.

Aqua nodded, adding as well, "My name is Aqua."

What the trio heard next shocked them, as Sailor Jupiter asked, "So, what kind of world did you guys come from?"

"You know about other worlds?" Aqua asked.

"Well, short of." Sailor Moon began sheepishly, "We fight to protect our world from evil who try to destroy the planet. So I guess you kinda understand why we were a bit supicious since we sensed something approaching Japan."

"Gosh, we don't mean any harm." Mickey pointed out, holding up his hands in slight defense while feeling sheepish as well. "And, well, the knowlage of other worlds is meant to be a secret, and it's a long story."

"We'll leave if you want us to." Riku said.

The Sailor Scouts looked at each other, until finally, Sailor Mars sighed and decided, "Well, despite that I sense some small traces of darkness in Riku, I can also sense his heart, and Aqua and Mickey's hearts are good."

"Just as I sensed." Sailor Moon said happily over her little victory. "Like how I knew you'd fall asleep in the movie theatre."

"I fell asleep, did I?" Sailor Mars grunted, before demanding a serious question, "What month, week, day and time was that!?"

Sailor Moon then held up a calender book, calculating, "It was July the 5th, Thursday afternoon at 3:15 PM, and the weather was nice and sunny." grinning again, while her friend groaned in defeat and jealousy.

"I lost." Sailor Mars grumbled.

"Hey, why don't we head over to the Temple to figure this out." Sailor Jupiter suggested while stepping in between the two, sweatdropping.

This was going to be a long day in Neo-Tokyo.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the World that Never Was...

"Absolutely not." Saix said point blank at Xaldin and a rather giant Luxord who both returned from a mission in Wonderland, and, from the looks of things, Luxord had taken a mushroom that makes things grow into giants and hasn't turned back yet. "Come back when you're normal size." Saix ordered.

' _I knew it._ ' Xaldin mentally groaned, before he and the disappointed Luxord returned through the still opened corridor of darkness and made their way back to Wonderland.

Left alone again, Saix faceplamed himself, groaning. Why did almost every single member of the Organization irritate him so much? Yes, he wasn't much better, for he was strict with Roxas, who, despite always doing his work, didn't fully understand in being a Nobody and seemed more...human, but then again, that might be the influence of Roxas co-existing with Sora who at the moment is oblivious to all of this. And Saix disliked Xion...that wrenched puppet. He had to make a note to himself to have Axel keep a close eye on her.

Speaking of Axel...he was getting too close to Roxas and Xion, which is effecting their goal. However, the way things are now that Xemnas is missing, and Xigbar possibly ran off somewhere, Saix had a snaking suspicion that, despite him being the leader now, Axel wouldn't let him destroy Xion or Roxas, as both were Keyblade wielders, and knowing Roxas, if Xion is gone, Roxas would run off. Demyx, well, he was probably gonna try harder(much to that lazy, irritating Nobody's dismay) to avoid in getting dusked.

Deciding to check the rooftop again while he tried to think of every other way in figuring out what happened to Xemnas, Saix teleported himself to that area and, seeing the platform the same as ever, he gazed up at Kingdom Hearts, the heart shaped moon that was supposedly going to give the Organization hearts of their own.

Ever since becoming a Nobody, all he wanted was to have his heart back. Axel did as well. Both knew each other as humans when they were children, both were, once upon a time, best friends, but neither of them remember how they lost their hearts and why it happened. They had a suspicion that Xemnas had something do to with it, so they joined only to plot in overtaking the Organization once they learned the truth, and then become human again.

But things had changed between the two of them.

Suddenly sensing movement behind him, Saix quickly turned around while summong his Claymore. But to his shock, he was too slow and too late as he was critically strucked and knocked away into the railing wall by a powerful blast of energy, rendering weak, losing air, and losing consciousness. In his blurred vision, he could see a figure in full red, walking over to Kingdom Hearts.

DiZ, who, by using Xemnas's memories inside him, had found the Castle that Never Was, and gazed up at Kingdom Hearts, saying, "At last. The Organization is over, and I have found out what their goal is. Now all is left is to destroy them." before he held up a hand to skyward, and a blast of red and black energy shot out and hit Kingdom Hearts square in the middle, causing it to crack and then...

It exploded, engulfing the entire castle, and everything in it. DiZ, unharmed by the blast, teleports away. As for Saix, using the last of his strength to only briefly shield himself with the Claymore, and barely survived, dropped the weapon and dropped lifelessly.

As for Kingdom Hearts, all of the collected Hearts floated down into the darkness below, and the Nobodies, who were also caught in the explosion, faded into nothing.

* * *

At the same time...

"That was a total bust." Axel sighed as he appeared from the corridor onto the clock tower, and sat down on the edge, staring into the distance of the view of Twilight Town and the fields, mountains, oceans, and the sunset further ahead. He was tired, but he suddenly felt a jolt in his chest...something was wrong.

"Hey, Axel." a familiar voice spoke next to him. Axel looked to his left, and found that Roxas and Xion had finished their mission and had just joined him. It was Roxas who greeted him first.

"Hey." The redhead greeted back with a smile. He liked these kids, he really did, and it was weird. For the past more days, a few months since Xion regained her Keyblade, he found himself getting closer to Roxas and Xion, and Axel couldn't figure out why, but he liked it anyway.

"So, where did you go on your mission?" Xion asked.

Axel shrugged, saying, "Ah, you know, a recon mission. I think Saix realises that being the superior now is harder than it looks, since he has no idea what to do without following orders."

But that was half a lie. Axel searched through Castle Oblivion, but came up empty handed. Not that he was surprised. That place is a maze. Whoever built it must've been powerful before they either disappeared or died. Still, he didn't think that by telling Xion she came from that place was such a good idea. Then it made him think about his nightmare; Xemnas taking her away from him. What if that was...the future?

"That just makes things more harder." Roxas grumbled, "I can't stand him. He's always so mean and irritating." to which Xion nodded in agreement.

Axel just stared at them, before he facepalmed himself and laughed unexpectly in disbelief. Now this he found completely weird and out of place. How cute was that?

"What? What's so funny?" Roxas asked, puzzled.

"Listen to yourself." Axel said, almost in despair, playfully ruffling the boy's hair. "You're talking like a person."

"Why? What did I say?" Roxas asked, puzzled. Xion just blinked, not certain either.

Axel shook his head, pointing out, "Roxas, we're Nobodies. We don't have emotions, because you need a heart to have feelings." which also caused him to mentally question if that was really the case or was Xemnas actually lying.

"Oh, right." Roxas remembered.

"But then, why do we act like people?" Xion asked.

"Just because we don't all have hearts doesn't mean that we're all exactly the same. We each have memories of our pasts. Got it memorized?" Axel explained.

"But I don't remember who I used to be." Roxas thought, "And if that's the case, then I should still be all zombie like if I can't remember, right?"

Xion thought about this, and she muttered, "Same with me. I don't remember my past as a human either."

"Might be because you two are special." Axel shrugged.

All three of them were silent for a moment, before Roxas looked at the redhead and asked, "What were you like before you were a Nobody?, Axel?"

This question caught Axel almost off-guard. He was never asked on what he was like before, and, it left him on edge. He felt uncomfortable in reliving his past, one that ended tragically. "Me?" he asked, before looking away, then replied, "Oh, I dunno. I think I've always been pretty much the same. Not that it did me any good."

That, and he didn't to reveal that he and Saix were friends before becoming Nobodies.

"I wish I could remember stuff like that." Roxas sighed.

"Really?" Axel quirked an eyebrow, "It's just baggage, you know."

"But I-I can't remember anything. Not even from when I was born a Nobody."

Axel couldn't help but smirk, teasingly said, "All you did was stare into space!"

"Oh thanks!" Roxas retortedly sarcastically, laughing along with Axel, and Xion.

Xion then said, "You know, I don't remember much, either."

"You two sure do have a lot in common." Axel commented. It was a rather weird, but it was like...Roxas and Xion were a bit like siblings...and he had a suspicion that he was starting to form into like a big brother. As a human and a kid, Lea always wanted to be a big brother, but never got the chance.

After another moment of silence and staring at the sunset, Roxas thought to himself, "I wonder what kind of guy I was before..." then he muttered outloud, "I hope we can always be just like this forever."

Axel mentally shook his head with a smile. This conversation again. He then said, "Well, nothing lasts forever, you know? Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies like us. But it's okay if things change and we can't meet up here."

At Roxas and Xion's confusion, Axel continued wisely, "As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, none of us will ever have to be apart. Got it memorized?"

Another moment of silence, before Roxas laughed, saying with a smirk, "Wow, that was so not you."

Face turning red in embarrassment, Axel gave Roxas a playful shove and pouted childishly, "Hey!" while his two friends laughed.

* * *

About a few hours later, Roxas, Axel and Xion travelled through the corridor to head back to the castle and report to Saix of their missions. However, as they got closer, all three of them somehow sensed that something wasn't right.

Nearing the exit, the three of them paused as Demyx came running in a panic attack, and as just passed them, he exclaimed in fear, "Run! Run away!" before disappearing through the corridor to another world. The trio just stared at his retreating form, dumbfounded.

"Okay...?" Axel muttered.

"That was weird." Roxas added.

Xion then realised where Demyx came from and asked, "Didn't he just came from the Castle?" causing her friends to realise that she is right.

Nodding to each other, Roxas, Axel and Xion raced through and exited the corridor and into the lounge area of the castle, but the moment they stepped out, they froze in shock and gasped at the sight before them. It wasn't the same as they knew it.

It was in ruins.

* * *

 **A/N: Things are starting to heat up, as DiZ made his terrible move. Let's find out what happens next in the next chapter.**

 **As I said above, I'm back from my vacation to write again. Please continue your reviews, my awesome fellow readers, and I'll see you again in the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10: Fugitives

**Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but writers block and Christmas kept me busy. None the less, I'm back with a new chapter(and I pray that all of my stories and the rest of the stories on this amazing site-and the site itself-survive next month and many years to come after New Year's Day and the 12th of January 2016) for Chains By Days.**

 **I have to admit, when I saw the Jump Festa trailers of the two upcoming Kingdom Hearts games, while the KH3's Mysterious Tower was absolutely beautiful(I like the new blue colours that replaced the orange colours in the previous games) I was a bit disappointed in how they changed King Mickey's look. I don't think Unreal Engine suits the KH games more than it suits the development of FFVII Remake so far.**

 **I liked Mickey's FMV look in the ending of KH2, which was done beautifully. Scratch that, I loved it. It was definately a Disney and Final Fantasy crossover look to it.**

 **Oops, too many words here. Let's continue on.**

 **All rights belong to Disney, Square Enix, Toei(for the Sailor Moon world I set up and it's still the original anime. Don't like the new anime that much.) and Nintento/Pokemon Company(for the Pokemon world I set up here).**

* * *

 _ **Chapter ten: Fugitives.**_

Continuing from the last chapter with the Sea-Salt trio...

Roxas, Axel and Xion could not believe what they were seeing. The living courters room was in complete mess and destruction. The furniture was shreded into several pieces, vases were broken and smashed, windows were severally damaged, and parts of the ceiling had fallen off and landed on the floor, some making craters, and the rest of the ceiling was threatening to come crushing down.

In short translation-the Castle that Never Was is destroyed.

"W-What happened?" Roxas stuttered, looking around, as he and his friends slowly stepped forward to try absorb the destruction of their home in their minds, but it was becoming more and more difficult as they stared on. He couldn't believe it. Something terrible happened and he knew it.

"I wish I knew." Axel muttered, just as shocked as his blonde-haired friend was. This is bad. This is very bad. ' _What could've happened?_ ' he thought.

Xion, in shock, placed her hands over her mouth, horrified at this, and speechless. While she wasn't here for long, she was mixed with unusual emotions that made her chest hurt, where a heart should be. She felt her eyes sting and water, and she tried to hold back a choke that was forming in her throat.

The trio continued to observe the ruins, until they heard a grunt of pain coming from the doorway that led to one of the halls, which, thankfully, wasn't caved in yet. Roxas, Axel and Xion looked up and their eyes widened, as Saix, battered and severally injured, slowly make his way. His coat was almost completely shreded, his body had sever wounds, and blood was slowly seeping down from his head.

Eventually, he collasped to the ground. Instantly, Axel rushed over, with Roxas and Xion, despite both of them disliking Saix, following their friend seconds later. The redhead carefully picked up and held the blue-haired man in his arms, while leaning on one knee.

Saix was weakly aware of Axel's pressence, and weakly looked up at his former friend, muttering, "...The...Organization...is no more." breathing with difficulty.

"Might wanna back up there, man." Axel told him. "What happened?" he wanted to know what happened, but at the same time, he had a strong suspision that he knew but hoped that he was wrong.

"...The...man...in the...red..."

"The guy in the red did this?" Roxas asked, shocked, his dislike at Saix aside for now. "Where is he?"

The second in command shook his head slowly, answering, "...I don't know. He...caught me by...surprise...he even...de-destroyed...Kingdom Hearts."

"You mean...!" Xion gasped, horrified. All of her and Roxas's hard work...all of their and the rest of the Organization's hopes in gaining hearts of their own...to complete Kingdom Hearts...is all for nothing!?

"Then that guy's more dangerous than we thought." Axel grimly concluded. He realised now that he was right. Oh Underworld, he was right, and he wished that he wasn't. It made sense. The man in red...he killed Xemnas and possibly Xigbar. Now he managed to destroy Kingdom Hearts and destroyed the Castle that Never Was, and severally wounded Saix. How can anyone stop him?

Saix then grunted and hissed in pain, as smoke of darkness began to seep from his body and into the air, and the three other Nobodies gasped at this. He was dying and slowly fading back into the darkness. Suddenly Axel had visions of himself lying in the Betwix and between, fading away into darkness like Saix is now. Axel suddenly found himself wanting to cling onto the Nobody of his childhood friend, memories of when Isa died in Lea's arms appeared in his mind before his own death.

"...All of you, must leave." Saix muttered again, snapping Axel back to reality, as he, Roxas and Xion gazed at him. "He is too powerful...It's over..."

Saix then gazed at Roxas and Xion, saying, "...You both are...part of Sora." much to the two's confusions and Axel's dismay, until the blue-haired man gazed at the red-haired man, adding, "...Forgive me...Lea." calling Axel by his original name.

Axel shook his head, finding himself unable to breathe, unable to accept it. He felt his eyes sting, which was unusual, and he muttered, "Hey, don't you go say that and then just disappear, Isa." saying his former friend's original name as well. "Don't you dare...!"

But Saix only smiled, which wasn't a cruel smirk but...a sad smile, until his head fell limp in Axel's arms, and then he completely vanished from his arms all together. Saix was gone.

Axel couldn't believe it. No, this wasn't happening. Not again. As much as the two weren't on friendly terms for the past almost ten years, he couldn't lose his former friend again. But he just did. On top of that, all of the hard work in trying to complete Kingdom Hearts was for nothing. Now neither of them or Roxas, or Xion, or any other surviving members of the Organization will ever get their hearts back.

But then he quickly realised that this was not the time to breakdown-if he could if he had a heart-especially since the man in red was still on the loose and possibly...still within the castle itself. Standing up, Axel sighed and turned to Roxas and Xion who, despite that they never liked Saix, stood in horror that they just seen a co-worker and boss to die in front of them. Axel made a mental note to explain this and try and comfort them later. For now, they had to get outta here and to somewhere safe, somewhere where the dangerous enemy couldn't find them.

"Let's go." Axel said, snapping them back to reality as they looked at them, and somehow his chest hurt on how scared they looked. "We can't stay here, or we're next."

"But, where can we go?" Roxas asked, helpless as he had no idea what to do or what will happen.

The older nobody shrugged, "I don't know, but anywhere that's safe."

"What about the rest of the Organization?" Xion asked, "I mean, Demyx, I think he's somewhere safe too, but what about Luxord and Xaldin?"

"Perhaps we can answer that ourselves." Xaldin's voice answered before Axel could answer. The three of them turned to see Xaldin and Luxord standing there, with several Dusks along side them. "Traitors." Xaldin added to the trio who stared at him and Luxord in shock.

"Traitors?" Roxas asked, shocked. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what we mean, ." Luxord muttered, summoning his cards in the air around him, while Xaldin summoned his spears. "While I am still surprised how you three managed to overthrow Lord Xemnas, Xigbar and now Saix and bring this castle into ruins, I suppose it's the power of the Keyblades that made you this strong already."

"But we didn't do anything!" Xion protested. "It was the man in red! Saix said so before he disappeared!" she was starting to shake in fear, unable to think of why Luxord and Xaldin think she and her friends are traitors.

"Save your breath, No. XIV." Xaldin sneered dangerously. "There is no point in lying."

Axel rolled his eyes, pointing out, "Oh come on, Xaldin. Do you really think Roxas and Xion are capable of lying yet? The kids are telling the truth. When we got here, Demyx came passed us and we saw the place in ruins too. Besides, even I can't go up against Lord Xemnas, and do you really suspect Rox' and Xi' to defeat him?"

"It was your influence that made them like you, Axel." Luxord stated with a cruel smirk. "I knew you were not to be trusted. You were always the most unpredictable of the entire Organization. So now, we shall finish you all off. As the rules state; Traitors are to be eliminated. We shall revive the Organization with new members."

"We're not traitors!" Roxas shouted. But the Dusks were coming right at them and he and Xion gasped. Suddenly, the Dusks were blown back by fire, summoned by Axel who had summoned his Chakrams to protect his friends.

"They made up their minds, unfortunately. They ain't gonna listen to us." Axel told his friends, turning to them. "Let's get outta here, now!"

Hesitating, Roxas and Xion nodded, and they and Axel quickly disappeared into the darkness before their now former members could reach them. Xaldin and Luxord were left alone with the Dusks, inside the ruins of the Castle that Never Was.

Both of them stood in silence for a while.

"What's the plan now?" Luxord asked to his partner.

Xaldin walked a couple of steps forward, saying, "Considering how they escaped, clearly says that they are the ones who are dangerous. They destroyed Kingdom Hearts and ruined the Organization. They are the traitors and just became fugitives and must be stopped, while you and I rebuilt Organization XIII, and find a new way to regain our lost hearts."

He turned to the other Nobody and added, "They, Sora, Aqua, Riku, the King and his two companions must all be destroyed. They cannot get in our way."

"But first, we need to find a new base." Luxord stated.

The raven haired man smirked cruely, "I have found a perfect spot for that."

* * *

Meanwhile, the corridor of light opened up on a strange floating island in a sea of stars, which was a beautiful sight. Sora stepped out first and onto the grass, pausing to gaze at a tall mysterious tower. Namine walked out next, and Donald and Goofy came out last, the latter two looking around. To them, this place seemed familiar.

Before Sora and Namine could join them, they looked back to find the Door to Light disappearing completely. Namine blinked nervously, while Sora chuckled nervously, before saying, "There goes our road." mentally cursing, now that he and his companions were stuck.

"I wonder where we are." Namine thought. "I've never seen anything like this place before."

Sora nodded in agreement. "Me neither." then he gazed at the tower again, and suggested, "Maybe there's somebody in this tower who can help us."

"Maybe you're right." Namine nodded, though she was still nervous. She was still getting used to being away from Castle Oblivion.

The two of them, Donald and Goofy then stepped up onto the stairs and pushed the door opening. Inside was a small room that had a set of spiral stairs leading up. Sora and his friends walked up, wondering who they would meet, as Donald and Goofy felt the deja vu becoming stronger to both of them. They had been here before, and so did King Mickey.

"It's kinda funny, but I feel like this is where the King came here before." Goofy pipped up, causing the others and himself to pause.

"Really? How come?" Sora asked.

Goofy tapped the side of his head, thinking deeply in, well, goofy style.

"Maybe I can help." Namine suggested, "I have the power to look into memories of Sora and those connected to his heart. Maybe that'll help, but it won't be easy."

"Sure. Why not?" Sora shrugged, "I trust you, Namine."

While nervous in being trusted, Namine nodded, and took a seat on one of the steps. She pulled out her notebook and colouring crayons, telling her new friends that these are her keys into looking into people's memories. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She then opened them and started drawing. While she was confused on how the memory she saw within Sora's heart could really be his when it wasn't, she eventually drew a picture of a boy with spiky blonde hair, with an armor pad on his shoulder, and looked a bit like Sora and Roxas.

"Who's that?" Sora asked.

"I don't know, but, this is what I discovered in the memories in your heart. It's a bit blurry, but I figured out this young boy was here." Namine told him and the others. "He's also met Donald and Goofy a long time ago."

Donald and Goofy took a closer look at the boy in the picture, and it wasn't until Goofy realised, "Hey, I think I remember him. It's Venquist, um, Venalite, uh, Veggie..." trying to say the boy's name, but found it difficult.

"It's just Ven!" Donald snapped. Suddenly memories returned to him, and he realised, "Hey, you're right! He met the King a long time ago! And it was...right here!" He looked around and cried out, "Yeah! This is Master Yen Sid's tower!" and without telling the others, he continued up the stairs, now running.

While Namine stood up after putting her things away, Sora blinked confused. Goofy then looked at his friends and explained to them, "Master Yen Sid is the King's teacher."

"Wow, sounds powerful!" Sora thought, amazed. Namine was amazed too, but also scared.

With that, they continued up the stairs to catch up with Donald and to meet King Mickey's teacher, Yen Sid.

* * *

Sora and Namine ended up entering a seemly magical study last, and looked around, while Donald and Goofy stood in attention, then both of them bowed respectively low, confusing the two teens, until they looked up and saw, sitting beind a desk and on a tall chair, was an elderly and wise man, with a gray beard, and wearing a blue robe and a pointy matching hat with stars and a cresent moon on it. He looked serious, which made Namine nervous.

"Master Yen Sid." Donald said in respect, "It's an honor."

Namine flinched, realising that this man was Yen Sid himself, and she then gave a curtsy to show her own respects, saying, "Pleased to meet you, Master Yen Sid."

Sora on the other hand, casually waved and said, "Hey there." much to his friends shock and Goofy's horror.

"Sora!" Donald scolded while smacking Sora on the arm, adding, "Show some respect!" only to be settled down by Yen Sid who waved his arms to calm him down, silently indicating that he didn't mind Sora's casual greeting. He was met with the similiar greeting when he first met Mickey ages ago.

"So, you are Sora." Yen Sid spoke to the young man, before gazing his eyes on Namine who looked scared but she tried to hold in her fear. "And you are Namine-Kairi's Nobody." he added.

Namine only nodded, not saying anything. What if she was going to disappear, if the Sorcerer knew she was a Nobody?

But apparently Yen Sid didn't mind that either. "Do not fear, child. You are unlike other Nobodies. Perhaps more human." he said. "You have gained Sora's trust, thus you are to be trusted." he added.

"T-thank you, sir." Namine muttered.

The wise old man nodded, then turned to the three travellers, and began, "Now then, I trust you are in search for the King."

"Yes we are, Master." Goofy nodded, "But we can't figure out how to find him."

"Yes, Mickey has been busy at late. However, I can tell you that he is no longer in the Realm of Darkness." Yen Sid told them, then looked at Sora and added, "Nor is Riku. Both of them had somehow returned to the Realm of Light, along with another; I trust you two are familiar with Master Aqua."

"Uh...I remember someone saving the King, and I think that was Master Aqua." Donald vaguely remembered.

"But uh, I thought she disappeared." Goofy added.

Sora and Namine glanced at each other in confusion at who this Aqua was, but at the mention of Riku and King Mickey escaping the Realm of Darkness, Sora couldn't help but say, "You mean Riku and the King are back? That means they're okay!" relief filled up his heart.

"Yes, they are perfectly fine." Yen Sid nodded, "However, the dangers are now more troubling than ever. Therefore, the task in instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared."

Sora's face dropped at this. "You mean, we have to go on another quest?" he sighed, "I was looking forward in finding Riku, so he and I can go back to the islands, and I want to help Namine too."

"Yes, I know." Yen Sid said, understanding the boy's wishes. He then continued, "However, everything in your journey, Sora, is connected. Whether you will find your way home to the islands... Whether you will return alone or with your friend... And, whether or not the islands will still be there. And the key that connects them all is you, Sora."

The teenager's eyes widen in disbelief at the information. He had a Nobody somewhere out there, he was secondly chosen by the Keyblade that was originally Riku's but because of the latter's darkness, the Keyblade chose him instead. But still..."I'm...the key?" Sora asked, stunned.

"Chosen wielder of the Keyblade." Yen Sid confirmed. "You are the key that will open the door to light. In fact, you had done so earlier that led you and your friends to me."

It made sense, Sora thought. He nodded, understanding. He then asked, "But wait a sec-how come the Heartless are still running around?"

"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that." Yen Sid agreed, then he explained, "However, the Heartless are darkness made real-and darkness lingers yet in every heart. The Heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them."

Sora, Donald and Goofy slumped in disappointed at this, while Namine looked worried. Goofy then realised and pipped up, "Gawrsh, that must mean...if everybody's heart was full of light, them Heartless'd go away!" and his friends realised he was right and nodded in agreement.

The sorcerer also nodded in agreement, then told them about the enemies they would encounter. He summoned an illusion image of Donald which it turned into a Heartless, much to Donald's shock. Yen Sid then continued, "If one such as you, Donald, yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this."

The others nodded, and allowed the sorcerer to continue, "The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down! Now then..."

He used magic again and an image of a Dusk Nobody appeared, and Namine cringed away, terrified as she saw a fellow nobody that, unlike her, wasn't in human form. "Despite that Namine is a Nobody, she is a special one. She was born from Kairi who lacked darkness. However, she was born at the same time as your Nobody was born, Sora, as you both released Kairi's heart and sacrificed herself before she returned you to human form."

"I remember that." Sora muttered.

"And because of this, your Nobody is also special, because he and you co-exist, which is very unusual, but that is not the problem." Yen Sid continued, "For you see, at times, like you and Kairi, if someone with a strong heart and will-be they evil or good-becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own. An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away... A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence-for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all. You know this from Namine."

"That's right..." Namine muttered, "We Nobodies do not exist, and we shouldn't feel any emotions. We were meant to return to darkness and disappear."

Yen Sid grimly nodded, but he did say, "I can sense that they are few exceptions; you and Sora's Nobody are the example, and perhaps it can effect another Nobody. Some are capable of regaining emotions at times, but you must not be deceived. It depends on the original's heart."

"Some Nobodies..." Sora trailled off, unable to think of what else to say. Suddenly he and his companions are startled as more images appear behind them, and more Dusks appear.

"Now then...the being you see before you is known as a Dusk. They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others-some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. And some, like Namine and your Nobody, Sora, whom is called Roxas, take on human forms. But still, be vigilant!" Yen Sid cautioned.

The group nodded, and Yen Sid continued, "On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm." as the images disappear. "Still, they are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to the darkness. But-"

At the wave of his hand, images of figures in black coats appeared, and this time, Namine whimpered. "It's the Organization." she muttered. Even Sora, Donald and Goofy looked wary.

"Yes." Yen Sid agreed, "The beings you see before you now are different. These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. It commands the lesser Nobodies."

"Organization XIII." Sora muttered.

"They're the ones who kept me in Castle Oblivion for a long time." Namine said. "But...something happened. I don't know why, but, someone freed me from the man in the red cloak."

"I sensed something was amiss." Yen Sid agreed, as the images disappeared. "While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner. They can think and plan. They were working on a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. The King sensed the danger, and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the dark realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now with Riku and Aqua, he travels world to world."

He paused, then continued, "However, Organization XIII has been shattered, by the one who attempted to eliminate Namine. Who this new enemy is, I do not know, but he is dangerous, as he even destroyed the Organization's leader and possesses such terrible darkness that is interfering with my magic, so I cannot even see who he is."

Namine gasped, then she asked, "What about the rest of the Organization?"

"Some of them have been returned to darkness. The rest of them, we do not know yet. Still, they could be followers of their leader, or have agendas of their own. They could even be after you, Namine. You must be careful." Yen Sid cautioned again.

The blond-haired girl nodded. She may be a Nobody, but she couldn't let anymore dangers effect the worlds.

"Then I guess we better go find the King first!" Sora concluded.

Donald looked worried, considering how he and Goofy had known Mickey for pretty much since they were all infants, not to mention that he still wanted to find him, and he asked, "But where could he be?"

"Well, we don't know until we look." Goofy stated.

"And this Aqua person is with him." Namine added.

Sora nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and Riku's with them too, 'cause he and the King were together in the realm of darkness when we closed the door. You know, after defeating Ansem."

Yen Sid nodded, before stating to Sora, "So, before you go, perhaps you would gather new travelling clothes." adding as he gazed at Sora's current outfit, "Those are starting to look a bit too small for you." to which Sora noticed and looked rather embarrassed.

The sorcerer then continued, "Through there, you'll find three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you appropriate garments for you to wear when the time is right." while smiling and forcing himself not to laugh, as he didn't want to embarass the poor boy.

Donald and Namine both giggled, while Goofy stated to the spiky-haired boy, "Gawrsh, Sora, you sure are growing fast."

"Uh, I guess." Sora replied, laughing nervously. He didn't think of packing or buying extra clothing. He forgot that detail, but then again, he didn't think that he and Riku would be away from home for almost a year.

* * *

Back with Riku, Mickey and Aqua in Neo Tokyo world, they followed the Sailor Scouts up to a cherry hill temple, where the five girls discarded their powers and turned into five ordinary teenagers, each wearing a school uniform. Sailor Moon is Serena, Sailor Mars is Raye, Sailor Mercury is Amy, Sailor Venus is Mina, and Sailor Jupiter is Lita.

They met in Raye's room and sat around the table, where two cats, one black with orange eyes and is a female, and the other, a white cat with blue eyes, the male, are waiting. Both of them have Cresent Moon marks on their foreheads.

Seeing the cats, Mickey went to them and smiled. "Hello there." he greeted and patted them friendly, which, despite the black cat named Luna, and the white cat named Artemis's supicions, they both found this humanriod mouse very friendly.

"I definately like Mickey." Serena thought, smiling. "He's way nicer than that little pink-haired brat named Rini."

"Serena, please!" Amy scolded.

"Who's Rini?" Aqua asked, curiously.

Serena sighed and grumbled, "That's what I want to know. Yesterday, I was with my friend Darien," she was stumbling a bit at the mention of her boyfriend, not wanting to reveal her relationship to anyone just yet, "All of the sudden, some five year old kid who looks like me, dresses as me and even worse, wants something that I have and I have no idea how she knew, appeared outta nowhere, and then disappears, and then the next thing I know, she appeared at my house when I came home and trashed my room which I thought my brother did, and my family thinks she's my cousin, which I definately know she's not."

"That doesn't make sense." Riku said. "How can someone appear out of nowhere look just like you want something you have and at the same time, convinced your family that she's your cousin?"

"Good question." Serena continued, "She even disturbed me twice during the night, and the second time was at bedtime!"

"Gosh, that's not very nice to say about a five year old girl." Mickey thought. "I mean, normally kids don't ask anybody for something they should've know."

"That's what I said earlier, but she insisted on meeting up here after school today, and that's when I sensed that you three were coming." Raye agreed.

"How is it that you three appeared?" Luna suddenly spoke, which caused Artemis to scold her, "Luna!"

This surprised Mickey, Riku and Aqua who said, "Those cats talked!" causing the two cats to sweatdrop at their mistake.

Then deciding to treat the cats like everyday people, Mickey then replied, "Well, uh, it's a long story, but we're not here to cause any trouble, I promise. You see, me and my friends here are looking for friends of ours, and, well, somethin's happening to the worlds and there's a fella in red that's causing so many problems and he's very dangerous."

"A guy in red?" Lita asked, blinking. "What did this guy do?"

Aqua sighed, willing herself to explain and she continued for Mickey, "He tried to kill us, and he has the most dangerous and evil darkness inside him, he even took away one of my best friends. As long as this man in red exists, all of the worlds are in grave danger."

Serena sweatdropped at this and grumbled, "Oh great, that means the Universe is in trouble, and I bet that's who that kid's working for."

"Serena, first you said that girl's from the Negaverse and now you're saying she's working for a new enemy?" Luna asked, skeptically.

"Well, if this guy's as bad as Aqua, Mickey and Riku said," Serena began, "Then he's gotta be from the Negaverse. Where else could bad guys come from?" before adding sarcastically, "An Alternate Universe like in the movies?" which caused her four best friends and the two cats to fall to the ground(anime style) at her choice of words.

Mickey thought about this, then admitted, "Hmm...Never heard of the Negaverse before. I thought it was because of the Realm of Darkness."

"Guess that means the situation is worse than we thought." Riku thought, frowning.

"Well, the only way to figure this out is to learn about this in Raye's great Fire." Artemis concluded, which confused the travelling worldly trio.

Seeing the confusion, Raye explained to them, "As well as being a Sailor Scout, I'm also a pristress of the temple which is run by my grandpa. I have the ability to read fire and have pyshic abilites to sense people's auras and the evil forces."

"That's why you were able to sense us." Aqua thought, amazed. "You can sense Light and Darkness."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Serena said. "Let's get to it!"

Everyone sighed at Serena's comment. Despite her being the leader of the Sailor Scouts as well as being a Princess...she was rather clumsy.

It seemed that the new threat was only just beginning, and DiZ had made his move rather too quickly, and none of the three groups in different situations knew what was to become of the worlds just yet or the more dangers that lie ahead of them or many others in all of the Realm of Light.

Little did the group know, that the five year old girl, Rini, had noticed people walking up to the Temple and she, being supicious that she was being against, headed up the stairs as well, along with her floating cat-head ball Luna-P.

However, even she was unaware that she was spied on by a man in a black coat, which was none other than Xigbar who managed to escape and found his way here.

He was hiding behind the side of the path, and then gazed at the spot where the girl was. "Now, a girl, no older than five years old, is normally out here all by herself like everybody else? Pfft! As if!" he said to himself, smirking. "That kid's got somethin' on her mind and I can tell...she's like a Princess of Heart. She could be useful to my new plans, now that Xehanort's plans are busted since he's gone."

Chuckling to himself, Xigbar teleported into the darkness to wait for his time to strike. For now, he was to observe Rini's movements.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry that it's short, but I will try to make it up in the next chapter which will most likely be next year now that we only have three days left of 2015. Man, it came and went like a blink of an eye! What a year and I have a feeling it's one of those years I'll never forget. I hardly remember 2014!**

 **While we wait for the next chapter to see what happens next to the three groups, please continue your reviews, fellow readers, and I'll see you next time.**

 **If you don't see me post another chapter to another story during this week before Friday(the first day of 2016 this time), then, I'll see you all next year.**

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	11. Cancellation Announcement

**Author's Note: Very important announcement. Due to not having the heart to continue this story and cringing at how messy the story-line is, Kingdom Hearts: Chains By Days is officially cancelled.**

 **I'm really sorry for this and I know that all of you were waiting for years for me to continue this one. One day, I may redo this for a better storyline as I have a decent idea how it will be better, but until then, thank you for favoriting and following this story and I'm really sorry for making this decision to cancel it.**

 **It's hard on me. So until then, hopefully someday I'll redo this, until then, May Kingdom Hearts and the Lifestream guide you.**


End file.
